MacroPolis

Until a few days ago the only thing connecting SYRIZA and Texas was the lone star on their flags. 

But, suddenly, the US’s second-largest state seems to have provided a defining moment for Greece’s second-largest party. SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras chose a speech at the University of Texas in Austin on November 4 to put minds outside of Greece at ease with regard to his party’s plans should it come to power after the next general elections.

Tsipras’s admission that it would now be too messy and painful to extricate Greece from its euro mess and return to the drachma indicated that SYRIZA’s view on the subject has evolved since the party shot to prominence early last year. It is the most unambiguous description of SYRIZA’s current position on the issue.

That’s not to say that the leftists are absolutely united on the matter. There may be as many as a third of SYRIZA members who are highly sceptical about remaining in the single currency. They appear to believe Greece will only solve its economic problems by leaving the eurozone.

Nevertheless, with his November 4 speech, Tsipras drew a line in the Texas sand. Austin is known for having an alternative cultural scene, characterised by the “Keep Austin Weird” campaign. It was in this very city that the SYRIZA leader attempted to tell the world that his party may be a little different but that ultimately on the key issue its position is not that weird at all.

Of course, this makes one wonder why in the same week as his Texas speech Tsipras chose to submit a censure motion against the government and to talk about the Greek people “tearing up the memorandum” during the ensuing debate. It seems perplexing that Tsipras should be happy to reduce his watershed moment at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs to cheap joke in Parliament. “I went there to learn how to duel at El Paso,” he said in response to a jibe from PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, who tried to demean Tsipras’s trip by suggesting he went to the US to be instructed by the Americans.

In fact, Texas was mentioned more times in Greek Parliament on Sunday than during a John Ford western. Unfortunately, the level of debate was more suited to Blazing Saddles than The Searchers.

Why Tsipras should choose to undermine himself in this way can only be explained by the fact that he does not believe SYRIZA is ready to shackle itself to reality in the way governing parties or parties preparing to govern have to. The leftists, a party of less than 5 percent four years ago, still want to enjoy the abandon of being in opposition.

A move to get his party to unite behind his statement in Texas entails substantial risk for Tsipras. Senior MPs such as Panayiotis Lafazanis and Manolis Glezos have already expressed doubts about both continued membership of the euro and having a top-down, structured decision making process in the party. Pulling everyone together on this issue, and others, is much like trying to nail jelly to the wall.

It was only this summer that SYRIZA became a party rather than a collection of factions. It will need more time if it is going to mature. Time, however, is in short supply. The more aggressive SYRIZA becomes in opposition, the shorter this period becomes for the government, which often gives the impression it is living on borrowed time. A poor showing in the May European Parliament elections, for instance, could precipitate the coalition’s downfall. The onus is on SYRIZA to strike a balance between castigating the government, often justifiably, and evolving its own positions on crucial issues. So far, there has been too little of the latter.

Tsipras’s performance during the weekend’s parliamentary debate was well below what the circumstances demanded. He might point to the pettiness of his rivals but a would-be prime minister has to start showing at some point that he is a cut above the rest. While SYRIZA has made steps to define itself beyond Greece’s borders, within the country it still remains too reliant on put-downs and one-liners. Its attempts to inspire mass demonstrations have failed. While there are many things to rally against in Greece, the tired format of street protest that SYRIZA, among others, subscribes to is leading to a dead-end. The sacked employees of ERT showed that more creative forms of protest can grab people's attention and make them think about the issues. Yet, the abiding memory of SYRIZA's part in this protest will be MP Zoe Constantopoulou being pinned against the building's front gates during a melee with police.

At the point which Greece has reached, SYRIZA cannot find the answers that it or the country needs only on the street. Simply relying on a growing number of Greeks becoming disenchanted with their lot and increasingly fed up with the government’s austerity policies cannot be SYRIZA’s single strategy for coming to power. It will, for instance, have to explain to Greek voters that the European Union’s “fiscal compact” and “six pack” means that there can be no promise of an expansionary fiscal policy from any Greek government for many years to come.

A failure to address this very quickly will only set SYRIZA up for a very big fall if it comes to power after the next elections. You can't prepare yourself for governing by simply watching others fall away. After Texas, Tsipras should be aware that being the last man in town standing can be a relief but it also leaves you in an awfully lonely place.