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During the parliamentary elections last year the left coalition SYRIZA won 26.89% of the votes. The result was unprecedented for a coalition of left-winged and extreme left parties and movements that used to win the votes of 3% to 5% of the electorate.

The coalition has united in a party after being able to establish itself as a major political force. Before its electoral success, but especially after it, everyone in Greece was, and is, aware of the fact that SYRIZA has sheltered the majority of the disappointed former voters of PASOK. The political opponents of the party never miss the opportunity to remind their colleagues in parliament of the fact that, without them, SYRIZA would not have been a leading political force and a contender for government.

So, what is the profile of the average voter for SYRIZA? The answer to this question is shown in the results of a survey conducted during the party’s congress at which the delegates had accepted the proposal of leader Alexis Tsipras that the coalition should become a party. The survey involved 1,830 delegates (half of those who had registered) whereas the number of respondents is 1,794.

According to them, the typical supporter of SYRIZA is a man, aged about 50 years with a very good monthly income (1,950 euro). He has a university degree, left-wing political beliefs (a leftist socialism), his attitude towards the European Union is positive and negative towards the traditional media, and he is a true fan of the Internet.

Although there are more than a few dynamic women in the central committee of the party, men are actually its driving force, including the strongest representatives of the so-called "generation of the Polytechnic," despite the fact that the majority of the supporters are younger (aged between 35 and 44 years).

The attitude of SYRIZA towards the European institutions is interesting, as the far left representatives of the party often express resentment towards them. However, the results clearly show that the average member of the party supports the European Union, although he considers it responsible for the current situation in Greece, of course, along with the government in Athens. He supports the preservation of the Union but also the restructuring of the forces and the conducting of referendums in each country, the decisions of which should be more crucial than those taken by national parliaments.
 
The members of SYRIZA define the Greek Communist Party as closest to them in terms of views. They define Democratic Left and Independent Greeks as right centrist parties and PASOK as right winged, and rank New Democracy as extreme right along with Golden Dawn. SYRIZA members support the idea of state control in all spheres of the economy, the ecological development and the mandatory integration of immigrants into Greek society, and strongly oppose the police and its functions.

At the same time, the "hot" autumn of 2013, widely discussed by party representatives, did not happen at all. Fewer protesters are taking part in the strikes and strike processions, and the last rally against the budget for 2014 last Saturday gathered no more than 80 people.

SYRIZA however insists that it will improve the everyday life of the Greek citizens and defines 2014 as the "year of struggle and hope." "We want to make it the year of the big turnaround," reads the decision of the central committee of the party, which it hadadopted at the meeting on Sunday.

"In the coming days we will work hard to create a greater public coalition of solidarity, resistance and twist," say the leftists who still recognize the obvious fact that the coveted social rebellion probably will not happen. "Although poverty and discontent are growing there has been no general social mobilisation. Yet all the time there have been protests, the main features of which are persistence, duration and social acceptance."

The party adds that during the next elections it will be able to gain the necessary majority of votes and to form a single-party government.