We followed, minute-by-minute and district-by-district the entire course of yesterday’s triple elections via ThePressProject’s election app and the self-managed broadcast of the workers of ERT (the former public broadcaster that was shut down by the government in June 2013). In the end ERT, and its workers were more than present in these elections, sealing the result with the shadow of their struggle.
 
The Left came close to a ground-shaking victory which would have directly or indirectly threatened the legitimacy of the government. It may not have achieved it but it scored a great victory – the country has swung decisively to the left. And without keeling over…
 
If I was a bit more prudent I would have waited for the dust to settle and I wouldn’t have published this article in its initial form as early as 23.13 yesterday night. But it wasn’t the time for prudence, it was the time for daring and for History. In any case I wanted to experience this celebration with you, even if it meant I would write and rewrite until the morning – a rolling op-ed, let’s call it, like rolling gallup polls with the hope that the journalistic approach would prove more reliable than those of the opinion polls. In the end both did well: both the journalistic analysis and the exit polls (last Sunday’s errors were not repeated) so only one update of the article was required at 03.45 in the morning.
 
Let’s start with the basics. In terms of making history it would have been enough for SYRIZA to lead by one vote – half a goal. The Left is the leading political force in Greece for the first time in the country’s history, consolidating its upward trajectory mapped by the two elections of 2012. I know people who never believed that they would live to see it happen. Of course the social price has been great. Nobody would have wished for this humanitarian disaster to happen in order for so many people to turn to the Left. But History is written through discontinuities and contradictions.
 
Whoever follows this column would have expected SYRIZA’s win. Just the fact that it managed to drive the agenda compared to the governing parties in the run up to these European elections (in contrast to its inability to do the same in the first round of local elections last Sunday) prejudged this outcome.
 
Politically, however that was not enough – we all knew that. The long-term criteria of History are different from the short-term political criteria required to overturn the political scene. It needed to win by a large difference in order for the government to lose its legitimacy. The early exit polls left only a small probability for that to occur. In the end it didn’t happen. It did however achieve a clear victory. SYRIZA came close to its June 2012 poll numbers while New Democracy lost 7 points. It may, therefore have not met the conditions required to immediately question the government, it did however drastically change the political momentum: the Left is now in the driver's seat.
 
This image was boosted by the great – if nail-biting- victory of Rena Dourou in the race for regional governor of Attica and the exceptional performance of Gabriel Sakellaridis in the Athens mayoral race. Despite his marginal defeat, he was the big surprise of these elections.
 
On the other hand, the result is dampened by SYRIZA’s performance in the local elections, despite its great improvements compared to previous rounds. But that was the result of last Sunday or, more correctly, an outcome that was decided by the way that SYRIZA chose to handle those elections from the outset.
 
Impatience is not the best adviser for such important changes. And I am not referring to the few hours it took for the result to become clear yesterday night. I am referring to the slogan, 'On the 25th we vote, on the 26th they leave,' which is suspiciously similar to the slogan, 'Socialism on the 18th' of Andreas Papandreou. Closer to the culture of the Left is the approach that sees it as a marathon – even if the social price – the lost rights, lives and fortunes, the social state which is being shrunk, the safety net which is unravelling, is heavy due to the delay. The victory statement of Alexis Tsipras accepted as much, I think in a mature way. The promise that from tomorrow the Left will work towards creating a broad patriotic and democratic alliance is the promise of a new maturity, a qualitatively superior readiness compared to the previous political phase.
 
There is of course the opposite political reading: from tomorrow they won't be able to lightly sell off coastlines and public wealth and shut hospitals and schools, to attack social rights, to rule by ministerial decrees. They will have to fight point by point – in parliament, in the courts and in society to implement memorandum policies and fulfill their secret deals with the troika.
 
The Europeans will have definitely gotten the message. In amidst the troublesome sight of the rise of the far-right and eurosceptics throughout Europe there is one hope for the peoples of Europe – and a threat to the elites – with a victory of the Left in Greece which is discussed with great interest. The rise of the Left on a pan-European level was also noteworthy, particularly with the successful showing of 'Another Europe with Alexis Tsipras” in Italy, which according to the exit polls late last night gained 4% of the vote.
 
Returning to Greece here are some further brief conclusions:
I see SYRIZA taking the initiative and seeking power, striving for a social and political alliance (the form and makeup of which remains an open question).
I see New Democracy rudderless, without an agenda or a national plan aside from the memorandum and with no defenses against the far-right.
I see Golden Dawn, in the face of its prosecution baring its teeth, continually fed by the spread of a racist, far-right agenda.
I see PASOK being raised from its 'Elia' deathbed, given the kiss of life by the good showing of its 'independent' candidates in the local elections. The electoral salvation of Elia, however,in comparison to the polls, underlines even further the political decline of New Democracy.
I see the new party 'To Potami' driven by individuals as oppos