SYRIZA asks for a strong mandate from the Greek citizens

Athens, 1 September 2015 (MIA) - Olga Gerovasili, spokeswoman for the Greek SYRIZA party, called on the citizens to give their resounding support to the far left movement that called for the early elections on 20 September. SYRIZA governed Greece for hectic seven months, during which the economy crashed and capital controls had to be introduced, as the party tried and failed to negotiate better terms with its European and international creditors.

But, considering the high personal appeal of its leader Alexis Tsipras, SYRIZA called for early elections, hoping it will allow it to shed some of the most hardline members of Parliament who objected to the bailout agreement, and still retain power. "A strong mandate for a SYRIZA Government will save the country from the difficult situation it was brought to after 40 years of bad policies", Gerovasili said.

Still, recent polls show that after the fracturing in SYRIZA it has lost some of its popularity, with the Conservative New Democracy party reducing the lead SYRIZA has in the polls. Gerovasili said that SYRIZA will not form a post election coalition with New Democracy, citing major policy differences.

Tsipras begins the campaign on Tuesday, from Crete.