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Interview: SYRIZA gets second chance to lead Greece to growth: experts

Xinhua, September 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The clear victory of the radical left party SYRIZA in Sunday's Greek general elections is interpreted as a crucial, second chance to make up for lost time and lead the country to growth, Greek experts said Monday.

"In partnership with the right-wing Independent Greeks (ANEL), SYRIZA returns to office to continue its work without the burden of the hardliners of the leftist platform within the party that prevented their first administration from taking decisions and passing bills in the parliament," Charalambos Gotsis, professor of economics in the University of Piraeus, told Xinhua.

"Now undistracted SYRIZA can implement the new debt deal agreed with international lenders and leave its footprint on very important issues like insurance, non-performing loans, pensions, privatization funds and labor relations," he added.

According to the final official results, SYRIZA won 35.5 percent of the vote and 145 seats in the 300-member parliament. Jointly with ANEL, the bloc will control 155 seats in the new assembly.

"Political stability depends on how compact a parliamentary group will be. The previous government had a larger group, but could not take decisions. Smaller majorities like this one can have greater resistance. Now members know that there are no margins for variations," Gotsis highlighted.

Greece currently suffers a gap of 11 billion euros (12.3 billion U.S. dollars) in revenues until the end of 2015 and a derailed budget.

According to Gotsis, vital structural reforms are needed in the state and society in order to lead the country to growth. It is also imperative to form a friendlier environment for Greek businesses and foreign investors.

"This can only happen if we effectively face heavy bureaucracy, corruption, over-regulation and create a stable, simple and effective tax system," he added.

Through the worst of the debt crisis, representatives of the business sector were hit hard by capital controls imposed in late June to prevent the country's banks from collapsing.

"We need a government with a full four-year term that will adopt the policies needed to pull the country out of the crisis," Vassilis Kokidis, head of the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (ESEE), said.

The recapitalization of banks and urgent dialogue to restructure Greek debt are also major issues that need to be addressed by the new government, he noted. Endit