“Fire” against the president of SYRIZA-PS, Stefanou Kasselakis launched through his article in “Avgi” o Thanasis Karteros whom he accuses of ignoring party procedures and members.

As Thanasis Karteros points out, the new president of SYRIZA-PS formulates positions that the Right has been repeating for years, positions that have not been adopted by SYRIZA bodies but he says them himself. At the same time, he comments that “he does not notify the Local Organization when he visits an area in order to have a more accurate picture. That is, if the party members “intervene”, the picture is altered. Or they alter it. You don’t call it a relationship of trust.”

He even criticizes Stefanos Kasselakis’ references to “old, domesticated Greece” as well as his speech on BSE.

Finally, he notes that “maybe more collegiality, weight, seriousness in the words and deeds” of the president would have helped and adds that “after all, grounding is not only for others. For some it even precedes the landing…”

His article in detail

“Stefanos Kasselakis is the president of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance who has been elected by the vote of the members. Despite all this, he received fierce to vulgar fire from internal party opponents. He is intelligent, bright, communicative. And he learns fast.

He insists on appearing to speak “directly” to citizens. However, since the members of the party “mediate” between him and the citizens, it is reasonable to ask: does he reject this “mediation”? And he answers it himself, adding to “unmediated” “unannounced”. It does not notify the Local Organization when it visits an area to get a more accurate picture. That is, if the party members “intervene”, the picture is altered. Or they alter it. You don’t call it a relationship of trust.

He presented through SYRIZA-PS, in advertising terms, the “new generation of front-line executives”. Number eleven. Bright photos and weighty resumes were released as proof of the new leftist excellence. The suffering of the collective, the selection of executives through evaluation and control procedures, action and consistency is missing. The opinion of members and bodies is missing. The president and his staff decided and announced the new generation of executives. And even first line!

He said in Thessaloniki: “The new landscape I am bringing is a return to the old, householder Greece, where the householder kept his house clean, obeyed the rules and laws, had empathy for his neighbor.” He then tried to “clarify” it: we will not leave the housewives on the Right. As if we ever left them – consciously at least. How did he get it? Doesn’t he know or hasn’t he been taught that the “old domesticated Greece” exists only in the myths of the Right? Where did the Left and the country pay dearly for them?

He supported BSE stock options. It is, he said, an “institutional incentive for employees to participate in the share capital of a company. So that they participate in the surplus value that comes… both from the management’s choices, and from the toil of the work. This means practical co-operation”. The view has been peddled for years as a solution to chaotic inequalities and the stark exploitation of labour. Did SYRIZA also adopt her? If so, when and by what process? Or was it said… right?

The small sample size is worrying. And silence is not golden. Those who opted for the split defied the members’ verdict, but that does not mean that the many who insist on SYRIZA have a choice between silence and flattery. Legal does not necessarily mean appropriate. Stefanos Kasselakis must prove the latter. Perhaps more collectiveness, weight, seriousness in his words and actions would help. Grounding isn’t just for others after all. For some it even precedes the landing.”