COMMUNIST-BACKED students won nationwide university elections in Greece on Wednesday, delivering a significant boost to the movement in defence of higher education. 

The Panspoudastiki KS (All Student Co-operation Movement) won the support of thousands of students making huge gains on the previous vote in 2019 when the bloc came in second place. 

It received nearly 35 per cent of the vote in 232 of 266 departments with the pro-government DAP, which won the 2019 elections, trailing on just over 25 per cent.

The social democratic bloc PASP polled 11.4 per cent while the Syriza-backed BLOCO received just 2.2 per cent of the vote. 

Wednesday’s elections took place at a time when the conservative New Democracy government is trying to implement reactionary reforms to the Greek education system. 

Thousands have taken to the streets in opposition to the plans which will see the creeping privatisation of education and will introduce university disciplinary councils and a special campus police force.

It will bring an end to a decades-long ban on law enforcement officers entering university grounds.

General secretary of the Communist Youth of Greece, which was part of the Panspoudastiki KS list, Nikos Abatielos welcomed the election victory. 

“We salute the thousands of students who participated in and supported the ballots of Panspoudastiki,” he said. 

“Today’s result of the student elections fills us with optimism, but also with the responsibility to respond to the great task of militant regroupment of the students’ movement, towards a direction of clash with policy that deprives students of their studies and the future they need.”