“There is no person-centered reading of the history of SYRIZA. We will decide what the next day will be for SYRIZA-PS at the Congress,” said the president of the SYRIZA-PS Committee, Sokratis Famellos, and added: “If we don’t answer what new party we want and with what political proposal we can’t talk about a restart. The election of a new President alone is not enough.”

He referred to the Central Committee meeting at the weekend: “We had a very difficult weekend where, unfortunately, we had the departure of forty-five (45) of our executives and two of our MPs from SYRIZA-PS and therefore from the Parliamentary Group. Obviously, I would prefer to be more and more powerful and we had no “subtractions”, but “additions”.

He addressed his companions saying: “. After a very difficult weekend and given my role as President of the Parliamentary Group, I will ask all comrades in the KO to work together to strengthen, to “add” to SYRIZA-PS. To naturally discuss political issues and, in case we disagree, to decide based on the majority rule and act together. I don’t think there is any other way.”

“Overall in SYRIZA-PS we have chosen to have a political unity. This means that we agree, maybe not in our ideological references and starting points, but in our political goal. Our political goal is a left-wing, progressive governmental way out for Greek society. At the same time, it’s to mitigate, to stop, to reverse the effects of government policy. That’s what I think we agree on. So we have to find the way, how to do that. Obviously there are different approaches.”

Mr. Famellos also underlined that: “However, no one and no one is left out. It is crucial to achieve compositions and to have additions and not subtractions”.

Finally, when asked about the letter to the Speaker of the Parliament regarding the departures of Petis Perkas and Euclid Tsakalotos, he replied: “I had to respect their own declaration of withdrawal from SYRIZA-PS, but also the Code of Conduct of our party. With Euclid Tsakalotos we met together in the Council of Ministers for three years and then as heads of departments and with Peti Perka we have been friends and partners for many years from Thessaloniki and the Technical Chamber. I do not underestimate either the common political path or the friendly relations. But I have to I respect the responsibility that derives from my role. I therefore had to inform the Speaker of the Parliament of their withdrawal from the Parliamentary Group, since they themselves had in writing and publicly withdrawn from SYRIZA-PS, declaring a strong political disagreement. Besides, they had nowhere leave no possibility of remaining in the parliamentary group. I had to respect the SYRIZA-PS Parliamentary Group, and the role and responsibility of the president, as well as their resignation statement.”

In closing, he noted: “I also remind you that all the candidates in SYRIZA-PS have signed the Code of Ethics when we filed our nominations for the national elections. Our Code therefore states that we are both politically and morally bound to return our seats to the party with which we were elected in the event of leaving the party.”