There is no peace in the Greek left of Syriza, increasingly in chaos after the end of the leadership of Alexis Tsipras, the leader who managed to bring the party to government, but who was then punished by the voters who preferred the popular Kyriakos Mītsotakīs. Now the party, which was once seen as an example for all of Europe’s radical left, has been further weakened following a split led by the leader who replaced Tsipras, Stefanos Kasselakis, and who was then ousted.
Earthquake in Syriza: leader Kasselakis, the former banker who the left didn’t like, has lost confidence
Kasselakis announced his exit from the political formation and the birth of a new “progressive” force, also open to those who vote to the right but believe “in collective justice”, with the aim of filling “a large political gap in the country”. “Today is a day of joy because a movement of democracy, of free citizens and progress is being born”, claiming to be “creating a movement from society, for society”. “The party will be yours and I will be your servant,” he vowed.
The primaries
The announcement, which came during the turbulent congress that approved the candidates for the primaries on November 24, closes a season of harsh internal clashes between Kasselakis and the party’s old guard. Shortly after Kasselakis’ election, 11 Syriza MPs, many of whom had criticized the outsider’s “Trumpian practices and right-wing populism”, broke away and formed a group called the New Left.
Leader challenged
Elected by surprise in September last year, Kasselakis, a former financial operator at Goldman Sachs in the United States, was accused of having moved the party to the right and of having taken positions unrelated to the history of Syriza. Last September the Syriza central committee had rejected him with no confidence and in October had excluded him from the new primary race. Kasselakis responded by slamming the party’s door, accusing it of “anti-democratic positions” and has been followed, so far, by four parliamentarians who are joining the new formation whose name will be chosen soon. Three more deputies, according to the Greek media, but they would still not be enough to form a group in the Chamber, with the minimum number being ten deputies.
Syriza now holds 31 seats in the 300-seat parliament, the same as Pasok, Greece’s third largest party, and after the further split has lost its role as opposition leader. “Stefanos Kasselakis, the man many saw as the messiah, will be remembered as the gravedigger who finally buried the corpse of the party, which died under his watch,” said Stelios Kouloglou, a prominent former Syriza MEP.
