Spain's anti-austerity Podemos hails Greek ally Syriza

Spain's anti-austerity party hailed on Sunday its Greek radical left-wing ally Syriza which appeared on course for a stunning election victory.
"Hope is coming, fear is fleeing. Syriza, Podemos, we will win," said Podemos party leader Pablo Iglesias shortly before exit polls were issued in Greece showing Syriza leading Sunday's vote.

"In Greece tonight, we are already hearing that. We are hoping we will hear the same thing in Spain soon," he told a gathering of about 8,000 party faithful in the eastern city of Valencia.

"We are going to be smiling tonight."

According to exit polls, Syriza took between 35.5 percent and 39.5 percent of the vote, ahead of the conservative New Democracy party of incumbent Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Spain's conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy earlier Sunday warned austerity-weary voters against the temptation to back Podemos in elections due this year.

He said that hard-won economic recovery must not be lost by a voter "leap in the dark".

"We can not bet our future and that of our children in a frivolous game of Russian roulette," Rajoy told a congress of his Popular Party in Madrid.

Like Syriza, Podemos has found considerable popular support by rejecting austerity programmes adopted to try to lift the countries out of deep economic crisis.AFP
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121313.aspx
25/1/15
--