As we approach the completion of the first five month’s of Syriza’s government, Neos Kosmos asked four young Athenians what mark they would give to the left wing alliance for its first semester in power.

Yianis Dimopoulos, 29, voted Syriza for the first in the last elections. He says he would give Syriza a C+ because he believes the party has tried hard to negotiate a fairer deal but also admits mistakes have been made by Syriza in their first months in power.

Dimopoulos, a graphic designer from the suburb of Halandri, says Greece and its creditors will both need to concede ground if an agreement is to be reached, although the emphasis should be on Europe to help Greece, particularly given how much the country has already sacrificed.

“The feeling I get from the Europeans is that we should be grateful to them. I would like them to explain to me what it is I should be grateful for. Graetful for living off 450 euro a month, if you can find work or for the fact that we have such a high unemployment rate, we are struggling, there is nothing to be grateful for,” Dimopoulos said.

He recognises that Greece must introduce further reforms but believes the country’s creditors can afford to do more.

“The suffering they have inflicted on us is insulting to our entire country and should alarm other Europeans because once they are done with us they will look for another scapegoat,” Dimopoulos said.

Ioanna Karoglou, 27, from the seaside suburb of Glyfada, is a primary school teacher that also voted Syriza for the first time in January’s national elections.

She says she would only give Syriza a D for their efforts so far.

“I am disappointed, I expected a lot more to be honest, I think this government has potential or at least I like to hope it does,” Karoglou explained.

She says Greece’s Prime Minister Alex Tsipras and his party need to work out a solution that allows Greece to stay in the Euro but also offer some the country a chance to win back its reputation and independence.

“Of course we need the bailout now, but our ultimate goal must be to become less reliant on handouts and more independent, that is the only way forward and that can only come with reforms here in Greece and a greater commitment to change by all of us,” Karoglou said.

Nikos Psarakis, 33, says he did not vote for Syriza. He is a qualified engineer that moved from Crete to Athens for work in his field, but has ended up working as a taxi driver, pulling twelve hour shifts to make “just enough”.

Living in the inner suburb of Zografou with his girlfriend, Psarakis says he would give Syriza a D because in his view Greece has gone backwards over the last six months.

“If you ask me we were slowly on the right track, we suffered a lot over the last few years and slowly the markets were showing encouraging signs for Greece. Now it seems we have regressed, people are spending less, more shops are closing down, are we better off than six months ago, absolutely not,” Psarakis said.

“What Syriza has done is give back some pride, but it’s false pride, our ego’s might be slightly inflated, our bank accounts most definitely are not,” he added.

Ariadne Steliou, 22, is a student that lives in Kipseli with her two parents who are both teachers. She voted for Syriza and five months later says she “remains satisfied” with her choice. She says she would give Syriza a B.

“We must remember that Syriza has only been in power just over four months and has spent almost all of that time working on repairing the mess that was left for them by the previous governments,” Steliou told Neos Kosmos.

She believes Tsipras and his colleagues need to be given more time and claims the signs so far have been encouraging.

“We finally have a government that is willing to stand up for all of us, to be our voice, to tell the Europeans that we cannot continue on this path of destruction that austerity has brought,” Steliou said.

Source: Kathimerini