EUROZONE-GREECE/MORNING MOOD Mixed opinions on Tsipras ahead of Greek snap election

Record ID: 140685

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/MORNING MOOD Mixed opinions on Tsipras ahead of Greek snap election
  • Date: 31st August 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (AUGUST 31, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN SYNTAGMA SQUARE IN FRONT OF PARLIAMENT PEOPLE WALKING IN SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) 80 YEAR OLD PENSIONER AND ATHENS RESIDENT, NIKOS BALASKAS, SAYING: "(Former Greek prime minister Alexis) Tsipras was doing well and I voted for him, too. But now, when you vote for one thing and it turns out the opposite... Well, now I am in a wait-and-see mode." (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) 55 YEAR OLD CIVIL SERVANT AND ATHENS RESIDENT, MARIA SAVVAMICHELAKI, SAYING: "He deserves a second chance because they didn't let him (govern), everyone was pressuring him, he was being attacked on all fronts, so he deserves to win an outright majority now, he can do better than the others - we've seen what they (other political parties) have done for years now, we can't expect anything better (than Tsipras)." (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) TEACHER AND ATHENS RESIDENT, YANNIS POLITIS, SAYING: "I don't believe he should get a second chance.... because he didn't do even one third of the things he said he would." (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) PENSIONER AND ATHENS RESIDENT, YANNIS DERVOU, SAYING: "Despite the fact that he u-turned on a lot of issues, he should get more time to do the things he promised, perhaps not in their entirety, because of what we have agreed to (with lenders) but partly." (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) PENSIONER AND ATHENS RESIDENT, PANAGIOTIS DIAMANTIS, SAYING: "After so many people left his party, he had to go to elections. I didn't want them, it's a bad thing to have constant elections, referendums, it stops the flow of things." VARIOUS OF MEN LOOKING AT NEWSPAPERS HANGING FROM KIOSK NEWSPAPERS HANGING 'ETHNOS' NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING (Greek): "11.5 PERCENT PLUNGE FOR SYRIZA" NEWSPAPERS HANGING EDITOR'S NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING (Greek): "OPERATION: BOOST MORALE" NEXT TO PICTURE OF FORMER PREMIER AND SYRIZA LEADER ALEXIS TSIPRAS 'TA NEA' NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING (Greek): "ELECTIONS STARTING FROM SCRATCH"
  • Embargoed: 15th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAURHD6MZ4V2DUWQCFB9MZXAU7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Opinions on the streets of Athens were mixed on Monday (August 31) over the question of whether former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras deserved a second chance to lead the country.
    Tsipras resigned this month to pave the way for early elections aimed at getting a stronger mandate to implement the unpopular EU/IMF bailout which keeps the country afloat but has split his anti-austerity-turned-pro-bailout party.
    Polls suggest his Syriza party would win the September 20 vote. But its small lead over the conservative New Democracy party indicates that Tsipras' gamble in calling early elections could backfire - with most Greeks disapproving of his decision to seek a fresh mandate and how he handled the talks with creditors.
    Pensioner Nikos Balaskas voted for Tsipras last January. But now that he's seen his pension whittled down after Greece's latest austerity measures began to be implemented, he isn't sure if he will do so again.
    "Tsipras was doing well and I voted for him, too, but now, when you vote for one thing and it turns out the opposite... Well, now I am in a wait-and-see mode," said the 80-year-old Balaskas.
    Civil servant Maria Savvamichelaki says she hasn't lost her faith in Tsipras.
    "He deserves a second chance because they didn't let him (govern), everyone was pressuring him, he was being attacked on all fronts, so he deserves to win an outright majority now, he can do better than the others - we've seen what they (other political parties) have done for years now, we can't expect anything better (than Tsipras)," said the 55-year-old Savvamichelaki, who said she will definitely vote Syriza.
    Teacher Yannis Politis was adamant that Tsipras should not be given a second chance.
    "I don't believe he should get a second chance.... because he didn't do even one third of the things he said he would," said Politis.
    Pensioner Yannis Dervou, though, said he was tentatively backing the former PM.
    "Despite the fact that he u-turned on a lot of issues, he should get more time to do the things he promised, perhaps not in their entirety, because of what we have agreed to (with lenders) but partly," he said.
    Fellow pensioner and Athenian, Panaggiotis Diamantis, said he didn't want to keep returning to the polls.
    "After so many people left his party, he had to go to elections. I didn't want them, it's a bad thing to have constant elections, referendums, it stops the flow of things," he said.
    Syriza led the opposition conservative New Democracy party by as much as 15.2 percentage points in May. The gap has been gradually whittled down since, dropping to 1.2-3.0 points in recent opinion polls.
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