Greece's Main Political Parties

 

Syriza
Syriza is an acronym meaning the "Radical Coalition of the Left". Formed in 2004, it is an umbrella group, with the party Synaspismos (Coalition of the Left of Movements and Ecology) the key component.
Alexis Tsipras, its 40-year-old leader, originated from the youth wing of the Greek Communist Party, the KKE, and rose to prominence as candidate for the mayor of Athens in 2006.

Young people began to identify with Syriza after the riots in Greece in 2008. But it has since succeeded in attracting voters from a broad base, including public sector workers and small business owners.
Alexis Tsipras's message to voters is simple - the promise of an end to painful austerity measures and a boost in public spending
Syriza's banner reads: "Hope is on its way"
 

Independent Greeks
The Independent Greeks, a right-wing, anti-bailout party, formed as a New Democracy splinter in 2012. It is led by Panos Kammenos.
It shares little ideological ground with Syriza, but its anti-austerity stance led to a coalition agreement with the party after the January 2015 elections
The Independent Greeks party appeals to those who feel their country's sovereignty has been eroded by the EU and the IMF.

New Democracy
Outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, leader of the conservative New Democracy party, was seen as Alexis Tsipras's main rival.
Antonis Samaras has headed a coalition government - with partners Pasok - which has been committed to keeping the country in the euro and pushing ahead with plans to secure EU-IMF bailout funds
Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) 
The junior partner in the outgoing conservative-led two-party coalition is the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), led by Evangelos Venizelos.
The centre-left party dominated Greek politics in the post-World War Two period and led Greece at the height of the eurozone crisis. But public anger at austerity measures saw Pasok haemorrhage support.
George Papandreou was forced to quit as prime minister in November 2011 amid the government debt crisis, and later resigned as Pasok leader.
George Papandreou was replaced by Evangelos Venizelos, who is deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the outgoing government.
The party was considered another potential coalition partner in 2015. But Mr Venizelos said this depended on a commitment from Syriza or New Democracy to completing pending bailout negotiations and moving forward without any risky moves.
However Pasok suffered another setback when Mr Papandreou broke away to set up a rival party in early January.

 Movement of Democratic Socialists (Kinima)
Weeks before Sunday Jan 25,2015 election, ex-PM George Papandreou( son of Pasok founder Andreas Papandreou, and grandson of one of Greece's most celebrated politicians, also Andreas Papandreou) announced the formation of the Movement of Democratic Socialists (Kinima) to contest the election separately from his former party, Pasok.

 Greek Communist Party(KKE)
Greece's civil war ended in 1949 with the defeat of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and it was banned from politics until 1974.
It was legalised as Greece entered its post-dictatorship democracy - but by the late 1970s, the Greek left had broadly found its voice through the increasingly popular Socialist Pasok party.
Syriza has now supplanted Pasok as the dominant party of the left.
The KKE has also grown its vote in recent years, while holding on to its traditional demographic base - manual workers and lifelong Communists - and is expected to win parliamentary seats.

Golden Dawn
Feared by many as neo-Nazis, Golden Dawn nevertheless gained substantial support during the economic crisis.
In 2014, the far-right party gained the third highest share of the vote in the European Parliament elections in Greece, translating into three MEPs.
Violently anti-immigrant, its support has shrunk following the prosecution of its leadership.
Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos and several other MPs are being held in custody after the murder of an anti-racist musician in September 2013.
Members have been accused of perpetrating attacks on foreigners and political opponents.
But the party had still been expected to do well in the January 2015 election, and ended up polling in third place and winning 17 seats


The River (To Potami)
The River (To Potami) is a moderate centre-left party formed in 2014 by Stavros Theodorakis, a 51-year-old television journalist.
It is firmly pro-European, and its leader said he was prepared to go into coalition with another party as long as it pledges to combat corruption and keep Greece firmly in the eurozone.