Today, if the result is ‘Oxi’, the Syriza government will
have a mandate to enter a more radical phase of government. A defeat for Syriza
would, at least for the moment, extinguish the only left government and much of
the credibility that its existence has lent to its counterpart movements all
over Europe. More importantly, it would force any Podemos government in Spain
to fight, as Syriza has had to, alone.
For Greeks, the impact of the vote will be existential and
personal. Last night, at the gigantic
‘Oxi’ rally in Syntagma Square – reportedly the largest demonstration in Greece
since the fall of the dictatorship – tension was brimming over. What felt like
hundreds of thousands of Athenians sang songs and chanted slogans, some new and
some decades old.
Many may have known the words because of Greece’s much
larger and more serious left political traditions. But the passion of the
demonstration had nothing to do with any essentialist tropes about the Greeks,
and everything to do with the now desperate social situation, which, as many
accept, may well deteriorate regardless of the outcome tomorrow, at least in
the immediate term.
Thursday rally, Athens. Michael Chessum. In the middle of the crowd, a woman grabbed my attention:
“do you know how many people have committed
suicide over the past few years?” After we’d spoken, she added: “We need
your support”. Some of the biggest cheers at the rally were also for
announcements of solidarity demonstrations taking place abroad, but, for all
that, the outcome of the vote will now be determined by the voters of Greece –
supposedly.
March, Athens, Thursday. Author's pic.Many commentaries on the situation in Greece have described
the referendum as a test of national sovereignty – but in reality, any notion
that Greece is a truly independent state has already been swept aside by the
events of the past few weeks. The Eurozone creditors have made it plain that
what they really desire in Greece is not debt repayment (which, as the IMF now
admits, needs a long holiday) but regime change, and they have used their
financial muscle in the days running up to the referendum in order to deprive
the Greek banks of cash. The capital controls that this has incurred are cited
by almost everyone as the number one reason for the narrowing of the polls and
the growth of the Yes vote. This
strategy has willing domestic participants, in the form of every stripe of the
old Greek establishment – including some ‘soft left’ figures (take Athens’s
mayor for instance) – and the oligarchs who own almost all of the media.
What the referendum will really test is the ability of
Greece’s left, through its popular support and its sheer grit and willpower, to
win in spite of the overwhelming efforts of both Greece’s creditors and the old
Greek establishment. Across the country, a ground war has been waged by
thousands upon thousands of activists – outside metro stations, in workplaces,
on pavements and in local communities.
Friday, rally, Athens. Author's pic.‘Hard-working’ doesn’t really cover the attitude of the
Greek left. The picture that one gets from spending time around it is one of
constant leafleting, demonstrations and rallies. Then there are the workplace
struggles, the constant critical engagement and discussion that so many
leftwing activists have about the strategy of the government, and for some the
community projects supporting those without access to food and basic amenities
– not to mention the task of coping personally effects of austerity. Being in
eight places at once isn’t possible, but sleeping four hours a night and taking
a lot of vitamins is. This is the movement with which the Troika is now at war.
The contrast between the Nai (Yes) and Oxi (No) campaigns is
visible on every street corner in Athens. The Nai campaign puts large glossy
posters on lamp-posts and takes out bus station adverts, usually with the same
design. Oxi posters, stickers and graffiti – coming in a hundred different
designs and from a hundred different groups – are fly-posted on walls, sprayed
on pavements and tied to lamp-posts all over the city.
The whole event is a gigantic exercise in mass, bottom-up
persuasion. Local Oxi rallies, like one which we attended in the east end of
Athens on Thursday night, march noisily around residential areas, drawing
fist-pumps and cheers, as well as the odd bucket of water, from balconies. For
the Oxi campaign, building a sense of social solidarity, and counteracting the
sense of isolation and fear that many wavering voters may be feeling in the
wake of the economic gloom, is just as important as convincing people that the
Troika’s demands are unreasonable.
In a rapidly polarising atmosphere, both sides are throwing
everything they have at the campaign. For the Oxi campaign, this means mass
mobilisation. For Nai, it means a fusion of mobilisation and mass organised
blackmail. The bias of the mainstream media has been well-reported: one of the
favourite anecdotes of our contacts in Syriza Youth was that one of the main
stations had just tweeted, from its main account: “Do you want access to
medicines on Monday? Yes or no”.
But beyond the media, the old Greek ruling class is running
at full throttle: whole companies have gone on lock-out. Some employers have
reportedly threatened their employees with non-payment if they fail to attend
Nai rallies, and with mass redundancy if Oxi wins. The Ministry of Labour has
responded with a declaration stating that these practices are illegal, and that
it will back workers in this position. Leftwing activists are showing up at
workplaces with the declaration in hand, but how effective this proves remains
to be seen.
If the Yes campaign is being conducted in a language of
fear, the No campaign is described just as much in terms of dignity as it is in
terms of hope. Nonetheless, a victory
for Oxi and for Syriza would give hope to millions across Europe. It would
represent the victory of a mass movement of the left over the forces of press
barons and the old neoliberal political order – in Berlin, Brussels and the
richer side of Athens – which seems intent on making a debt colony of Greece.
