We are ready to rule! <br /><br /> The message to Greece from Alexis Tsipras and his anti-bailout Syriza party – extending its lead in opinion polls less than a week before a general election.<br /><br /> It has set alarm bells ringing in Europe with left-wing Syriza pledging to negotiate a debt reduction and an end to budget austerity – though it insists it is committed to keeping Greece in the euro zone.<br /><br /> “Europe should not be afraid of parties like Syriza,” said party spokesman Panos Skourletis.<br /><br /> “If it is going to be afraid of anything it should be afraid of itself. What I am referring to are the dominant strategic policies of extreme austerity, which have been imposed primarily by the main power in Europe, Germany.”<br /><br /> In an opinion poll at the weekend Syriza had widened its lead over Greece’s ruling conservatives. <br /><br /> Voters, disillusioned with mainstream parties after years of austerity imposed by <br />foreign creditors under a bailout deal, are seeking a new more assertive approach. <br /><br /> In a similar v
