Feature: Greek PM marks first anniversary in office, pledging return to growth in 2016

A year ago on the Jan. 25 national elections in Greece, the Radical Left SYRIZA party achieved a historic victory assuming office for first time in the country's modern history with the promise to end austerity and bailouts.

After 12 turbulent months, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras marked the anniversary on Sunday addressing a celebratory SYRIZA gathering in an Athens stadium organized under the slogan "One year Left, one year battle. We proceed."

The Greek leader expressed confidence that despite setbacks, Greece can return to growth in the second half of 2016, after seven years of steep recession, referring to some positive economic indexes.

"Your presence is a message of optimism and determination to continue the great struggle we started a year ago," he told the cheering crowd. "I am certain we can make it. Greece will move forward."

Outlining his government's goals for coming months, Tsipras said that efforts will be strengthened to lead Greece to the exit of the debt crisis.

He appeared confident that the new review of the bailout will be successfully concluded soon so that talks on debt relief start with no more delays.

In a message to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who publicly told him in Davos "it is the implementation, stupid," the Greek leader expressed determination to "keep confronting the conservative status quo beyond Greek borders that claims that the problem is the implementation of austerity policies and not the formula itself."

"We can change Greece. We can change Europe," Tsipras said.

However, outside the stadium optimism is not widespread, political analysts in Athens noted.

Sunday's event was held as a new wave of protests by various professionals and social groups against the government's plans for the pension and taxation systems reform escalated in recent weeks.

The government argued that the painful reforms are necessary to move forward and receive more aid by international creditors under the terms of the third bailout Athens was forced to accept in July to avert a looming default and Grexit.

In the September 2015 snap general elections SYRIZA was reelected and the party promised to soften the impact of bailout policies. Protesters said the new tax hikes and pension cuts being promoted will push the average Greek taxpayer further into poverty.

For a first time after several months all opinion surveys published in Greek media over the past two weeks showed the main opposition conservative New Democracy party leading over SYRIZA after the election of a new leader.

Approximately 85 percent of respondents in a study carried by the University of Macedonia in northern Greece for Skai television said they are dissatisfied with the government's performance. Even seven out of ten SYRIZA voters appeared not satisfied.

Under the pressure of protests at least one SYRIZA MP has said that he will not vote in favor of the pension reform bill in parliament in February. With a slim three-seat majority in the assembly for the two-partite ruling coalition, media commentators predict "serious challenges" to the government's survival prospects.

During an interview with a local television channel on Saturday, government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassilis was forced to dismiss "speculation," underlining that there is "no question of fresh snap elections soon."

Despite the current "clouds," several political analysts in the Greek capital bet that Tsipras and SYRIZA will give a hard fight to remain in power and implement the Left's vision for changing Greece. After all they survived an unprecedented rollercoaster in 2015 which included marathon stormy negotiations with lenders, the introduction of capital controls, a referendum on the bailout draft and a long series of U-turns. Enditem