The European Union election results confirm the trend for the rallying of forces around the Communist Party of Greece

The EU parliamentary elections on the 25^th of May 2014 took place in Greece together with the 2^nd round of the regional and municipal elections. This was the first time that these two election battles have been conducted in the same period, while it was the first time that the voters could choose their preferred candidates from the lists of the parties (previously the parties determined the order of preference).

The results of the EU parliamentary elections

43 parties took part and 1299 candidates in the EU parliamentary elections for the 21 seats that Greece has in the EU parliament (1 less that in the 2009 elections). 59.9% of the electorate took part in the elections and an atmosphere of polarization between the two new bourgeois poles was formed. On the one hand ND sought votes so that, as it said, “there will be no instability and derailment from the way out of the crisis”. On the other hand, the new social-democracy, SYRIZA, sought the transformation of the elections into a “referendum”, so that it could demonstrate a significant increase and outstrip the dynamism of the governing parties. With the slogan “we vote on the 25^th so that they leave on the 26^th”, SYRIZA set as its goal victory in the EU parliamentary elections so that the government would resign and the early parliamentary elections declared.

In these difficult political conditions, when the bourgeois parties promoted false dilemmas for the workers, the KKE achieved a small, but tangible, increase (+1.6%), in relation to the elections of 2012 and received 6.1%.

The new social-democracy, SYRIZA, although it emerged as the first party, could not increase the percentage it had received in 2012.

The government parties suffered significant losses. The conservative ND fell – 7% and the social-democratic PASOK, which participated in the elections with the “Olive Tree” coalition, had losses of – 4%.

The “Democratic Left” was crushed, which for a period participated in the government with ND and PASOK, lost -5% and remained outside of the EU parliament.

The rightwing party “Independent Greeks” lost – 4%.

At the same time the efforts for the recomposition of the political scene through the strengthening of fascist Golden Dawn (+2.2), as well with the emergence of a new “centre” party, led by a well-known TV star who has a PASOK background. His party, the “River”, received 6.5%.

The other 34 parties that participated in the elections but did not pass the electoral threshold of 3% and did not elect MEPS, received in total around 17% of the votes.

So, of the parties that participated in the elections of 2012, only the KKE and fascist Golden Dawn had an increase in terms of votes and percentage.

In addition, the KKE re-elects 2 MEPs.

  This result acquires particular significance because the political line of the KKE is a line of conflict against the capitalist development path and the imperialist EU, the bourgeois class and the parties that serve its interests. The KKE posed the framework that corresponds to the people’s interests: disengagement from the EU and unilateral cancellation of the debt, with workers’-people’s power and the socialization of the concentrated means of production. This framework was attacked by every means at the disposal of the bourgeois and opportunist parties, the mechanisms of the bourgeois state, but it lays foundations for the increase of the people’s demands, for the understanding of the class character of the exploitative system and the imperialist predatory alliance.

Below we present the results of the main parties in comparison with the 2012 elections (with 95.7% of the votes counted).

	Elections 2014		Εlections 2012
	%	votes	%	votes
ΚΚΕ	6.09 %	331,709	4.50%	277,204
SYRIZA	26.53 %	1,445,574	26.89%	1,655,086
ND	22.75 %	1,239,691	29.66%	1,825,637
GOLDEN DAWN	9.40 %	512,138	6.92%	425,990
OLIVE TREE	8.03 %	437,662	12.28%	755,868
RIVER	6.60 %	359,432	-	-
INDEPENDENT GREEKS	3.44 %	187,317	7.51%	462,466
DEMOCRATIC LEFT	1.21 %	65,707	6.26%	385,077

The results of the 2^nd round of the local elections

On the 25^th of May 2014 the 2^nd round of the municipal elections was held.

The lists of ‘People’s Rally” that was supported by the KKE entered the 2^nd round of the elections in 4 muncipalities and were victorious in all 4 of them.

Specifically:

• In the municipality of Patras (the 3^rd largest city in the country) it received 62.4% of the votes (it had 25.06% in the 1^st round).
• In the municipality of the island of Ikaria it received 50.8% of the votes (it had 44.1 % in the 1^st round).
• In the municipality of Petroupolis (which is in Athens) it received 53% of the votes (26.28% in the 1^st round).
• In the municipality of Haidari (which is in Athens) it received 68.5% of the votes (18.43% in the 1^st round).

We should bear in mind that in the 1^st round of the elections the KKE had a significant increase and had received 8.8% of the votes in the country’s 13 regions and an increase in 214 municipalities, electing dozens of councilors in the regions and hundreds in the municipalities.

Statement of D. Koutsoumpas, GS of the CC of the KKE, on the results of the EU parliamentary elections and the 2^nd round of the local elections

The GS of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumpas, in his statement in the evening of the 25^th of May in relation to the results of the EU parliamentary elections and the 2^nd round of the local elections underlined that:

“First of all we would like to thank all the people that responded to the appeal of the KKE, joined forces with it, supported the lists of the KKE and “People’s Rally” in the 4 municipalities where the KKE has taken part in the second round.

As to the EU parliamentary elections up until now the KKE has received more than 6% which means hundreds of thousands of votes and the election of 2 MEPs. In our opinion this result constitutes a small step; it is the continuation of the positive result of the previous week in the 13 administrative regions of the country where the party received 8,8% of the votes.

This tendency has been expressed, more or less in the municipalities all over the country where they the lists of the “People’s Rally” had a strong presence.

In the first round we increased our percentage in 214 municipalities. At the same time, we received more than 10% in more than 50 municipalities. 

In the 4 municipalities where we took part in the second round the candidates of the KKE achieved resounding victories.

The fact that in these conditions we won the majority in these municipalities, given the radically different political line expressed by the lists of the KKE in contrast to all the other lists of the parties that support the political of the EU and capital in local administration as well is a positive development.

The election result as a whole does not demonstrate any reversal  of the anti-people political scene; it does not create any “new political scene” in favour of the people.

Of course it demonstrates the people’s anger towards ND and PASOK who undertook the burden of implementing the anti-people governmental political line and the “EU one way- street”.

Although a significant part of the voters of SYRIZA made this choice with the expectation of a left orientation, the first position of SYRIZA does not express any strengthening of the left, radical, antimonopoly, anti-imperialist political line since SYRIZA has abandoned, even in its slogans,  the opposition to the monopolies, the EU, NATO.

The results –above all the EU parliamentary elections- indicate the consolidation of the tendency to substitute the bankrupted PASOK by SYRIZA, as part of the reshuffling of the political scene that started in June 2012.

At the same time, the course of other social democratic formations appears to be volatile e.g. the OLIVE TREE which was the main electoral formation of PASOK in the elections. The OLIVE TREE rallied some forces but received a smaller percentage than in June 2012. Furthermore, the percentage of the Democratic Left was reduced in favour of THE RIVER that appeared with slogans of a vague and less social-democratic character.

Although the tendency of the KKE to rally forces and receive new votes is positive,  the election results as a whole do not express any significant tendency towards the emancipation of the workers’ and people’s forces from the parties of the “EU one way- street”, the interests of capital and the monopolies.

The most extreme expression of this discrepancy is the high percentage of Golden Dawn.

The ruling class and the system still possess, unfortunately, significant reserves that allow it to appear with a new mantle. This assessment is based on the votes and programmes both of SYRIZA, as well as of the OLIVE TREE and the RIVER. As a whole, the recomposition of the political system is underway, the creation of new barriers to radicalization, something that we must specifically monitor in the next period. In the final analysis nothing has been decided, as the people themselves have not yet utilized their strength.

The election results as a whole in the EU countries can not be anything other than negative for the peoples. It is now necessary in every country, in all the EU countries, for a movement for rupture and disengagement from the EU to develop and to struggle for the overthrow the power of the monopolies. This movement with these goals must confront and smash fascism-Nazism in every country and Europe as a whole. We could say that inside this reactionary framework it is positive that the KKE in Greece demonstrates a trend of a small recovery after the strong pressure it was subjected to in June 2012.

The necessity of the recovery and regroupment of the communist and workers’ movement in Europe as a whole has become urgent, especially in France, Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy, to remove itself from the deadly embrace of social-democracy, the prettifying of the EU and the political assimilation and participation in the bourgeois anti-people management.

You can be sure that votes for the KKE will be utilized from tomorrow morning in every workplace, in every neighbourhood, in the schools, in the universities to impede new measures, to struggle for measures to relieve the unemployed, for the regroupment of the labour and people’s movement, for the social People’s Alliance.

The people must rally in the mass radical struggles around the KKE’s proposal for the way out, to organize and confront the anti-people measures that remain and to chart their own course for government and power in their own class interests. They must be rallied in a political line of rupture against the EU.

What is an immediate need is a strong People’s Alliance, a strong people’s opposition and a revived labour-people’s movement, which will confront the capitalist system, the EU, the monopolies, their power, charting a victorious course in favour of the people.

The KKE will continue to show the way for the real pro-people solution for our people, together with the readiness, starting from tomorrow, for a tough confrontation and struggle to relieve the workers, the unemployed, the popular households, the pensioners, the youth, all those who suffer.

We call on the people to resist the false dilemmas “stability and recovery” or “destabilization”, the false expectations fostered by the ND-PASOK government, as the stability and recovery will be for big capital and not for the people. 

SYRIZA on the other hand neither wants nor is able to save the people and pave the way for the overthrow

The people should trust in the KKE, which warned and struggled in a timely fashion, not in only with words and slogans, which is not bound by anti-people decisions, dishonorable signatures and dangerous consensus, unlike the other parties that seek the people’s vote and want either to continue their anti-people work, or sow illusions and false expectations.

From tomorrow onwards we must all struggle together to create the preconditions for the revival of the people’s movement for the concentration of forces to the benefit of the people.

We repeat tonight that we are aware of our responsibilities. We must contribute more decisively to the regroupment, the combativeness and mass character of the labour and people’s movement, to the organization of the daily struggle of the people, to the creation of a great people’s alliance, with the KKE strong everywhere. We need a strong KKE everywhere in order to prevent worse measures being taken by the anti-people local administrations in the municipalities and regions, so that we can struggle for the satisfaction of the contemporary needs of the people, so that we can pave the way, with the people in the forefront of the developments, for the breaking of the shackles of the EU, the monopolies, their governments, whatever name they may go under.”