MeRA25

European Realistic Disobedience Front Μέτωπο Ευρωπαϊκής Ρεαλιστικής Ανυπακοής Μétopo Evropaikís Realistikís Anypakoís
Abbreviation	MeRA25
General Secretary	Yanis Varoufakis
Founder	Yanis Varoufakis
Founded	27 March 2018
Headquarters	Maurommateon 15, Athens
Ideology	Anti-austerity Syndicalism Market socialism Democratic socialism Progressivism Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Left-wing
European affiliation	DiEM25
International affiliation	Progressive International
Colours	Orange-red
Hellenic Parliament	0 / 300
European Parliament (Greece)	0 / 21
Website
mera25.gr
Politics of Greece Political parties Elections

The European Realistic Disobedience Front (Greek: Μέτωπο Ευρωπαϊκής Ρεαλιστικής Ανυπακοής), or MeRA25 (Greek: ΜέΡΑ25), is a left-wing Greek political party founded in 2018. Its founder and General Secretary is former Syriza MP and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. MeRa25 is part of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), the European Spring, and the Progressive International. Τhe movement sets the horizon for the year 2025 to draft a democratic constitution that will replace all the European treaties that are in force today. A party of the same name, allied with the Greek party, was founded in Germany in 2021.

History

MeRA25 was founded on 27 March 2018 by former Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis. The party's formation was announced during a special event in Athens. In December 2018 former Syriza member and MEP Sofia Sakorafa joined the party.

The party contested the 2019 European Parliament election as part of DiEM25. It narrowly failed to win a European Parliament seat. In the 2019 Greek legislative elections, MeRA25 gained 9 seats and 3.44% of the vote.

MeRA25 stood in the May 2023 Greek legislative election as part of the "Alliance for Rupture", a coalition with fellow left-wing party Popular Unity, with "For the first time, rupture" as its primary slogan. The party received less than the 3% vote share required to receive seats in the Hellenic Parliament, with party leader Yanis Varoufakis releasing a statement blaming Syriza's leadership for the conservative victory, and stating that "Our own defeat tonight will be put under the microscope of our rigorous self-criticism". In the following June snap election MeRA25's voteshare declined further, ending with 2.5% of the vote, with Varoufakis releasing another statement blaming the result on the lack of a progressive front, claiming the result was "disproving the narrative that MeRA25 is falling apart" and stating that "Never have our people needed such a Left in Parliament more than they do now. And never will such a Left be missing more from Parliament".

Name

Without capitalisation, the letters of ΜέΡΑ25, μέρα (mera), spell the Greek word for "day", mirroring the Latin diem and thus showing the party's connection with DiEM25.

Positions

The party presents itself as an alliance of "Left, Green and Liberal Greeks", standing on the grounds European internationalism, economic rationality and social emancipation. It plans to introduce a "European Green New Deal", as a solution to the postmodern version of the Great Depression.

In Greece, its core 7 legislative policy proposals are:

• Restructuring the national debt
• Reducing primary surpluses
• Creating a public debt restructuring company
• The general reduction of tax rates
• Creating a public digital payment platform
• Converting HRADF into a development bank
• Respecting paid work and creative entrepreneurship

Election results

Hellenic Parliament

Election	Hellenic Parliament					Rank	Government	Leader
	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won	+/−
2019	194,232	3.44%	New	9 / 300	New	#6	Opposition	Yanis Varoufakis
May 2023	155,085	2.63%	−0.81	0 / 300	9	#8	Extra-parliamentary
Jun 2023	130,276	2.50%	−0.13	0 / 300	0	#9	Extra-parliamentary

European Parliament

See also

• Anti-austerity movement in Greece
• Civil disobedience
• Civil resistance
• Democracy in Europe Movement 2025
• European United Left–Nordic Green Left
• Syriza