Communists sweep into first in Greek university student elections

KNE and KKE flags at a Communist youth festival in Greece, Sept. 2021 -- Image via Twitter

University student elections in Greece resulted in a big upsurge and victory for Panspoudastiki KS (All Student Cooperation Movement), the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) backed list of candidates. The KNE is the youth wing of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).

Held May 18 the elections saw the list come in first with 16,684 votes or 33.43% of the vote. This was well ahead of the second place DAP list which was backed by the youth wing of the governing right-wing New Democracy party which took 13,807 votes or 27.66%.

BLOCO, the list backed by the youth wing of the social democratic former governing party SYRIZA took just 2.54%.

The communist list came in second in 2019. This is the first time they have been in first place since 1986.

The KNE issued the following press release after the vote:

In a statement to the media outlets, Nikos Ambatielos, Secretary of the Central Council of the KNE, stressed that “Three years after the last election process, the return of more than 50,000 students to the ballots would leave an indelible mark on a historic election struggle, in which the students’ votes gave ‘Panspoudastiki KS’ its highest percentage in decades.

After 4 decades, ‘Panspoudastiki’ occupies the 1st place nationwide.

The young men and women, who have struggled to become students again, take the students’ unions into their own hands again and bring them to life, against the dissolution plans made by the government, keeping alive their dreams of the studies and the university they need.

The forces of ‘Panspoudastiki’ record a sweeping rise, occupying the first place in dozens of students’ unions and institutions of the country.

It is the decisive, bold, and confident step of the younger generation to come forward, to take the lead, and to gain what it deserves together with the people. It’s the hopeful spark that can ignite the fire of disobedience, resistance, and struggle for all the things that students dream of.”

The Secretary of KNE also noted that “government policy was condemned, as shown by the great fall of DAP”, while he underscored that the students did not support the social democratic forces that abstained from their struggles, but with their vote for ‘Panspoudastiki’ they give a promise that they will struggle for their rights.

“We salute the thousands of students who participated in and supported the lists of ‘Panspoudastiki’. Today’s result of the students’ elections fills us with optimism but also burden us with the responsibility to fulfil the great task of the militant regroupment of the students’ movement, in a direction of conflict with the policy that deprives university students of the studies and the future they need.”