B Tasos Kokkinidis
Former SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis has announced his departure from the party and plans to establish a new political party, as the leftist group once led by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faces internal turmoil.
Kasselakis, who previously denied allegations that he is forming his own political party, made his decision known after the party’s congress made it clear it would refuse to consider his candidacy for the leadership election to be held later this month.
After leaving the venue where the main opposition party is holding its congress, he went to his office in the Tavros district of Athens and said, “Today SYRIZA ended its democratic cycle,” adding that “tomorrow we will not go to that congress.” Instead, he called on all his followers to be at the office in Tavros at 13:00 on Saturday “for a celebration of democracy” and for “the most independent, radical, progressive movement.”
“This is not an apostasy, but the continuation of the democratic Left in our country,” he added.
SYRIZA lawmakers leave as Kasselakis barred
Three SYRIZA lawmakers, Alexandros Avlonitis, Petros Pappas and Rallia Christidou, supporters of Kasselakis, announced they are leaving or will shortly be leaving the party to become independent MPs.
This leaves the main opposition SYRIZA with 32 MPs in the 300-member Parliament, one more than the socialist PASOK.
SYRIZA, who governed Greece from 2015 to 2019, has been facing trouble and seems to be nearing collapse, with party MPs vehemently divided over Kasselakis.
The party leader had been taking fire from many members of the SYRIZA central committee for his autocratic behavior, and he was accused of treating the leftist party as his own property.
Kasselakis said that the party will either be reborn or pass into history as a memory. “The old one has strong roots. The new one may be slow to come, may meet obstacles, may fall down, but it gets up again,” he underlined.
As the former party leader revealed, “Personally, I do not feel betrayed, but more determined than ever not to ever betray you. I am here because you are here.”
A year of turmoil in SYRIZA after Kasselakis’ win
It was August 2023 when most Greeks returned from summer vacation to find a man who came out of the blue—from the US, in fact—to claim the SYRIZA presidency. Less than a little over a month prior to this, Alexis Tsipras had resigned from the leftist party leadership, and several candidates were waiting to claim his seat.
Kasselakis looked like the most unlikely person to qualify. He stems from a wealthy family with businesses in the US, had worked for Goldman Sachs, and had no experience whatsoever with politics, much less with the Greek Left.
Yet, his air of confidence, approach to the common people, and his slogan “I am the only one who can beat Mitsotakis” jelled with many SYRIZA voters. His visits to schools, hospitals, and impoverished neighborhoods, and his friendly talks with random people he met on the street made him a popular figure in the media.
After all, leftist voters had seen the charismatic Alexis Tsipras lose three elections in a row to Mitsotakis—two parliamentary elections and one municipal. It was time to try someone new, someone with such a friendly approach that had very little to do with the typical Greek politician.
In the grassroots election for the SYRIZA presidency in September 2023, the rookie politician won the seat relatively easily from opponent Efi Achtsioglou, former Minister for Labor, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity in the Tsipras administration.
However, instead of staying with the party and following Kasselakis and his (vague) program, the losing SYRIZA faction accused him of not having the proper credentials to lead.
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