Political climate polarized even further

The ruling New Democracy conservatives, led by the PM, are using the fear of the unknown to get voters away from SYRIZA, by claiming a potential left wing government would jeopardize the country's existence in the EU.

The Radical Left Coalition, on the other hand, points out the PM's "fear mongering campaign" and attempts to link the conservatives with both the devastating policies of the memorandum era and the extreme right's divisive rhetoric and ideas.

Starting with the conservatives, the victory of New Democracy on the elections will bring Greece's salvation, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a campaign speech in northeastern city of Komotini on Monday evening, charging main opposition SYRIZA with being "bewildered, panicked, desperate" and "jeopardizing the country's interests."
 
Accusing SYRIZA of following a mentality that brings to mind tactics of North Korea, especially in the manner he said the party wishes to control its deputies' seats in Parliament, Samaras added, "SYRIZA is bewildered, in a panic - it keeps organizing conferences and paraconferences; it tries to control its officials, who have no idea what they're talking about. It is desperate because it sees its lead in polls closing in and it is the first time it faces the spectre of their defeat."

The PM asserted that political stability would return after elections - won by his party - and the country would end its dependence on obligatory loans. He called on SYRIZA, which he said encouraged political uncertainty, to take a look at the warnings of a possible Greek exit (Grexit) from the eurozone, saying that the party "jeopardizes the country's interests and pushes Greece to the precipice - the refusal to repay the loan means bankruptcy and is the safest bet to exiting the eurozone. There is no euro without rules. SYRIZA should drop the myth that we are danger-mongering; we are not jeopardizing the fate of our country and the Greek people."

On the other side of the isle, in an "unofficial" announcement, Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) party demanded that the PM immediate stop his campaign "of terrorizing the Greek people and discredit the country abroad," while challenging him to reveal his plans to establish a memorandum regime in Greece, as these were laid out in the "notorious" e-mail sent by Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis.

The party cited a series of statements by foreign officials saying that a Greek exit from the euro area was not an option and stressed that SYRIZA was not blackmailing Europe with "terrorist scenarios". The failed austerity policies were collapsing and SYRIZA's victory in the Greek elections was recognized throughout Europe as a big opportunity to rethink this policy, the announcement said.

"Only Mr. Samaras dares to link SYRIZA's upcoming victory with Greece's exit from the Eurozone," the party added, while noting that a Der Spiegel report referring to such a possibility had triggered a storm of reactions within Germany and in other countries and a 'civil war' within the German coalition government. On Monday, both the German government and the European Commission officially denied any change of position concerning Greece and the Euro zone, it added.

"It is a shame for an outgoing prime minister to identify with the most anti-European and racist toward the countries of the European South political forces, since only the far-right German party AfD appeared satisfied by the 'Spiegel' article," the note concluded.

The conservatives' coalition partner, on the other hand are fighting for survival. Greece needs to have a guarantor on January 26 who will lead to the formation of a national unity government, the president of PASOK, Evangelos Venizelos, said.

Initiating his tours of the Attica region, Venizelos spoke at the municipal theatre of Kallithea, in southern Athens: "What will happen on January 26 will be determined by the people. There will be no majority; we cannot go to a second round of elections, we cannot be without a government, there has to be a national strategy, there has to be a guarantor to lead to a national unity government that will implement a safe exit from the memorandum and the crisis. This guarantor can only be PASOK."