Syriza Lawmaker Rules Out Coalition With Breakaway Popular Unity

A coalition between former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' party and the breakaway lawmakers from Syriza is unlikely after this week’s elections, a Syriza lawmaker seeking reelection told Sputnik on Friday.

ATHENS (Sputnik) – Former Finance Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who resigned after Greece agreed to austerity measures in exchange to international lenders’ bailout in August, broke away from Syriza and formed the Popular Unity (LAE) party. The latest polls indicate that LAE may fail to pass the 3-percent threshold in order to be represented in parliament.

"No, as far as I know – no," Yannis Amanatidis, former alternative foreign minister, said in response to a question on whether a Syriza-Popular Unity coalition would be possible following Sunday’s ballot.

Tsipras, who triggered the elections by resigning from his post on August 20, seeks to secure a mandate backing the unpopular austerity reforms his government agreed to in exchange for a third bailout from Greece’s international creditors.

Amanatidis suggested that a more apt question would be whether Syriza could win an outright majority in the snap parliamentary election in the first place, given that the most recent opinion polls showed voter preference to be split between Syriza and the New Democracy party.

"Right now the question is whether Syriza will win the elections with pure majority which could be enough to receive autonomy or we will need to cooperate with the Independent Greeks [ANEL] party," the politician said.

ANEL, which formed after splitting from New Democracy three years ago, joined the ruling coalition after Syriza won the parliamentary elections on an anti-austerity platform last January.

"If [ANEL enters parliament], we will see if it will be possible to work with them. I think it will,” Yannis Amanatidis added.

Amanatidis argued that it was too early to speculate about what rival factions Syriza would be ready to cooperate with after the ballot, adding that his party is “still fighting to receive the majority” to fulfill its program.

“There will still be powers that will support a government headed by Syriza. Anyway, Greece will have a government on the next day [after elections],” he observed.

Two of the latest opinion polls put Syriza ahead of its main rival New Democracy, while two others forecast a New Democracy victory, while a fifth poll splits voter support right down the middle.