On Sunday, Greece voted for hope. They disobeyed the mainstream media, the professional economists, the European political elite. The victory of Syriza in Greece heralds the birth of a new era in European politics. Alexis Tsipras will be prime minister of the most openly socialist government in Europe since the World War II.

The party's immediate program seeks to reverse the impact of years of bitter austerity. The new government demands that Greek debts be renegotiated and calls for a European Debt Conference where the majority of the debt will be written off. Syriza points out that a similar deal - struck with Germany in 1953 - underpinned the German economic miracle in the 50s and 60s. Syriza demands that an economic growth clause be included in any deal with Greece's creditors, to ensure that future debt repayments are sustainable. An immediate €4 billion public sector investment plan by the new government will kick-start this growth.

Syriza intends to reverse the draconian austerity measures that have seen wages and pensions slashed, led to a collapse of the welfare state, and caused huge emigration by skilled and educated workers to other European states. The new government will introduce a minimum wage of €750 to reverse the collapse in wages and stimulate consumer demand. They will restore workers’ rights and begin a programme to create 300,000 new jobs over two years.

To tackle the humanitarian crisis caused by seven years of austerity; the government will give free electricity to those in need, and provide subsidies for food, rent and transport to the unemployed and to millions of distressed people. Measures to protect the property of the poor will see the suspension of personal debt repayments and a ban on foreclosures on all properties valued at less than €300,000. The intolerable tax burden on lower and middle-income households will be ended and a progressive system of taxation will take its place. This will target the country's oligarchs, whose splendid wealth has remained untouched during the crisis years.

The victory of Syriza shows that socialist and Marxist ideas can win the support of the people. For decades Europe's social democratic and labour party leaders claimed that radical policies alienate the middle class, but the election in Greece saw large sections of the middle class swing behind Syriza because the party gave a clear lead - targeting the Greek oligarchy, system of capitalism, and the abuse of wealth and power by international bankers and institutions. In Spain, Podemos is a new left-wing party that tops the opinion polls. If it can emulate Syriza's victory, a pan-European socialist alternative to the current European Union is possible.

There is no doubt that Tsipras will come under huge international pressure to submit to the demands of international creditors in exchange for some concessions to pacify his party and electoral base. Tsipras will face a determined campaign to defeat his government's progressive agenda. The main threat is Grexit - meaning expulsion or an exit from the Eurozone - it is true that this would entail economic upheaval, but the Greek people are already in utter despair, so, if creditors or international markets force Greece out of the Euro, this will not automatically undermine the government. Tsipras is right to calculate that the European Union stands to lose far more than Greece in this scenario, so he can use this knowledge to exact big concessions without leaving the Euro. How markets react to this is another matter.

Democracy is a Greek word, it means rule by the people, but in ancient Greece the slaves did all the work but had no right to vote. In modern times, the European masses have had the right to vote, but real power lay in the hands of the banks, big business and the European institutions that serve them. Now all this will change: Syriza promises to introduce mass popular participation and control to shape the future of society and make the economy serve the people.

The writer is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://china.org.cn/opinion/heikokhoo.htm

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