Greece over the last 7 years has been experiencing a deep economic crisis, something inherent in capitalism itself and independently of how it is politically managed. Over this entire period, all kinds of political forces have been exercising bourgeois governance: liberal, social-democratic, so-called “leftwing” forces, but in each instance the result was always painful for the people and in favour of the interests of the big business groups.

Since 2008, Greece, a country with a population of 11 million, has seen a 25% reduction fof GDP while- officially recorded unemployment has surpassed 25%, with the highest number of unemployed being between 30 and 54 years of age, at 62.81 %. Flexible labour relations, work without social-security cover and unpaid work are becoming generalized phenomena. Pensions are being cut even more every year and the retirement age is increasing. To a great extent, health and education are being handed over to the businessmen who are enjoying enormous profits. The percentage of the population in Greece that lives under the official “poverty line” is 36%. If the number of those that receive a very small social benefit is added then this percentage reaches 52.2%. At the same time the Greek companies that are on the stock exchange announced a 291% increase in profits for the first 6 months of 2015, while Greek shipping capital is in the 1^st or 2^nd place at a global level.

The 7-month SYRIZA-ANEL government led to the 3^rd memorandum with the imperialist institutions, which includes new harsh anti-people measures and the maintenance of the previous measures.

In the national elections held on the 20^th of September, working class and popular forces that in previous years fought against the anti-people measures and memoranda supported their alleged “fairer” and “gentler” implementation.  While a large section of the people chose abstention, which to a great extent expresses discontent with the bourgeois political system, a feeling of indignation and disillusionment amongst sections of workers and youth, but also compromise and passivity towards the anti-people political line and its causes. This development was SYRIZA’s valuable contribution to the bourgeois political system. SYRIZA, the new style social democracy and its coalition government with the nationalists of ANEL contributed to this with the illusions they created.

Inside this negative correlation of forces, the general retreat of the labour-people’s movement, in conditions of a deep capitalist economic crisis, the KKE received 5.55% (up from 5.47%) and kept its 15 MPs.

The other bourgeois parties like ND, PASOK, POTAMI which played the leading role in promoting and supporting the anti-people political line and now present themselves as being vindicated by the passing of anti-people measures by the SYRIZA-ANEL government. Vindicated in their insistence on the inevitability of the anti-people offensive charted by the monopolies. It is also negative that criminal Nazi Golden Dawn has formed a stable level of electoral influence, as amongst other things it is being promoted by big capital and state mechanisms. The split from SYRIZA (Popular Unity) that advanced a social-democratic programme focusing on the return to a national currency did not enter parliament.  

The new SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government has set out its stall and will continue on the road of implementing anti-people measures. In addition, the government is undertaking an active role in NATO’s plans, with military exercises together with USA-Israel, utilizing the pretexts about the “war against terrorism” etc. In this explosive situation in the Middle East, in the South East Mediterranean and North Africa, Greece has received, as a result of the imperialist wars, thousands of refugees and immigrants mainly from Syria. The KKE took a position against the repressive policy of the EU, standing at the side of the refugees, fighting for measures for their health, security and facilitation of travel to their destination countries. The KKE also struggles for the end of our country’s involvement in the imperialist plans of the USA-EU-NATO, which create the “waves” of immigration.

In the next period, the KKE will continue to wage battles regarding the crucial problems of the entire working class, popular strata and will contribute with all its strength so that people’s counterattack of the labour movement is organized in an antimonopoly anticapitalist direction.

Already at the initiative of PAME and the other forces of the People’s Alliance (rallies of farmers, the urban self-employed, women and youth) militant mobilizations have been carried out e.g. on the 15^th of October outside Parliament, an occupation of the Ministry of Labour and a demonstration outside, demonstrations on the 22^nd of October in dozens of cities, while general strike is being prepared for the 12^th of November.