Greece: Syriza loses in local elections

The conservative Nea Dimokratia party won in seven regions in the second round of Greece's local elections on Sunday. This means that conservative governors will head the local governments in 12 of the country's 13 regions. While some commentators celebrate the end of the Syriza government others warn the citizens to think carefully about whom they give their vote to.

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To Vima (GR) /

Enough of the trickery!

Finally there is an end to Alexis Tsipras's power politics, To Vima writes in delight:

“The PM continually undermined his opponents with all possible means, legal and unethical, as occurs with all cynical rulers. Over time, he crafted the reputation of a political magician who could always pull a rabbit out of the hat and who was an invincible Teflon leader. Tsipras himeslf was influenced by these false impressions. He became arrogant, haughty, audacious, and aggressive. He lost all sense of measure and at the same time he lost touch with society and reality. ... Now there are no more magic tricks or bright ideas.”

Blog Pitsirikos (GR) /

A costly victory

The Greeks should think carefully about whether to put their faith in the Nea Dimokratia party in the early elections slated for the start of July, blogger Pitsirikos comments:

“[Nea Dimokratia leader] Kyriakos Mitsotakis is getting set to score a victory and take the country in the direction of growth. But if he does it'll mean growth with a public debt of over 360 billion euros and more than 180 percent of GDP. (Yes, even after all the austerity Greece is saddled with more debt than it was when it went bankrupt in 2010). I don't know exactly what the Greeks think. I don't even know if they think at all. ... The Greeks love triumphs. And they pay a high price for them.”