Could Alexis Tsipras be the new Lula?

The Greek PM is facing up to the need for reform, he should look to the example of the Brazilian leader who successfully confronted financial constraints

The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has the chance to become to his country what the South Korean president, Kim Dae-jung, and Brazilian president, Luiz Inicio Lula da Silva, were to theirs: a man of the left who moves toward fiscal responsibility and freer markets. Like Tsipras, both were elected in the midst of an economic crisis. Both immediately confronted the international financial constraints that opposition politicians can afford to ignore.

On assuming power, Kim and Lula were able to adjust, politically and mentally, to the new realities that confronted them, launching much-needed reforms. Some reforms were "conservative" (or "neo-liberal") and might not have been possible under politicians of the right. But others were consistent with their lifetime commitments. South Korea under Kim began to rein in the "chaebols", the country's huge family-owned conglomerates. Brazil under Lula implemented "Bolsa Familia", a system of direct cash payments to households that is credited with lifting millions out of poverty.

The only possible silver lining is that Tsipras's supporters may now be willing to swallow the creditors' medicine