Spanish Opposition Says Victory of Syriza Reveals Inefficiency of Austerity

MADRID, January 26 (Sputnik) – Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the Spanish opposition party Podemos, said Monday that the victory of radical left-wing party Syriza in Greece's parliamentary elections reveals the inefficiency of austerity.

"The apparent victory of Syriza sends a very clear signal: the austerity policy is inefficient and causes the society great pain," Iglesias told television channel La Sexta.

According to the Podemos leader, Syriza's victory means that Greek people finally have hope that their interests will be taken into account.

"[Greece] will finally have a proper Greek president that will make the country's interests his priority," Iglesias said.

Iglesias has previously taken part in a Syriza meeting in Greece, showing his support for and solidarity with the Greek party.

Syriza is leading the polls with 36.34 percent of the vote. It is expected to win 149 seats, falling two short of a parliamentary majority. Some people expect the party to raise the issue of Greece leaving the eurozone after its victory.

On Sunday, Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said that Greece's political course would continue to be pro-European after the election, but pointed out the necessity to depart from the European Union's austerity policy. Back in 2010, three international creditors, including International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank, agreed a 110-billion-euro ($146-billion) bailout package for Greece to prevent default on its large debt.

"Greece will have a president who will assume the responsibilities of his country without betraying the people", the Podemos' Twitter post read.