Syriza sets collision course with Greece's creditors

Significance

The left-right coalition will secure tomorrow's parliamentary vote of confidence, having 162 seats in the 300-seat house. However, its two parties -- Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza, with 149 seats), whose roots lie in Greece's fractious Communist left; and ultra-conservative and nationalist Independent Greeks (Anel, with 13) -- have nothing in common except a desire to escape the economic adjustment programme (EAP) that has accompanied Greece's European Commission/ECB/IMF bailout since May 2010.

Impacts

• A rift is opening within Syriza between those who are prepared to renegotiate the EAP and those who reject it outright.
• Overtures are being made to Pasok, which has 13 members of parliament and might provide an alternative coalition partner.
• The European Council on February 12 will be Tsipras's first meeting with Germany's Merkel and other EU peers.