“It will be seen by Sunday if there will be an opponent,” SYRIZA MP Vassilis Kokkalis said on Friday morning to SKAI and the program SIMERA, regarding the stormy developments in the party that have been taking place since Thursday afternoon with the intervention of Tsipras and Kasselakis’ answer about “opponent”.

“Alexis Tsipras was right to propose an appeal to the polls”, he emphasized and added “it was a wise statement by Alexis Tsipras, at the right time, but also Stefanos Kasselakis himself yesterday at the General Assembly said that there is a possibility that he will appeal to the ballot”.

Stefanos Kasselakis will win the new elections in SYRIZA

“I believe that Stefanos Kasselakis will win the new elections in SYRIZA”, he underlined

Asked if Mr. Kasselakis wins the elections again, will he have a four-year check and will he be the undisputed president until the elections? He replied: “Of course, it is now clear that there will be no dispute.”

He then explained that “going to the polls presupposes one thing: the elimination of the pathogenicity of introversion”

“Let’s go to a new party”

Regarding Mr. Kasselakis’ aspirations for the name and symbol of the party and the questionnaire, he said that “sure, we are going to a new party, I wouldn’t call it “Kasselakis party”. The order he received in September was a renewal and change order. From then on, the need to change SYRIZA is imperative, but with the help of all executives”.

Regarding the intervention of Alexis Tsipras, who spoke of narcissism, he commented: “Tsipras’s statement is wise, he spoke of the need for a political plan, which we heard yesterday from Mr. Kasselakis. I will not tolerate another wave of introversion at a time when we are fighting in Parliament. In the midst of agricultural mobilizations, the society dealt with the introversion of SYRIZA rather than with the proposed law that we filed for agricultural cooperatives, for the cancellation of farmers’ debts.”

“Recourse to the polls was necessary,” he stressed

“There is not going to be a second election and the contestation continues,” he said

“Anyone who thinks they can claim the leadership can run, that’s what the president said,” he added.

Asked if the executives who question Mr. Kasselakis have a place in the new party that the president will build, he explained that “of course, there is no one left, Stefanos Kasselakis’ speech was unifying, not divisive. After two electoral defeats the need for renewal is far greater than any other executive ambition. We will all respect the electoral result of the internal party elections, to end this disease of introversion”.

Asked based on the opinion polls, if Stefanos Kasselakis is elected but does not win the European elections, he replied that “we are concerned about the opinion polls, but Stefanos Kasselakis has only been here two months after the split”

“Tsipras takes a neutral stance in favor of party unity”

Regarding Alexis Tsipras, he stated that “with his intervention yesterday, he proved that he will always be present in all developments”

“I do not consider it likely that Alexis Tsipras will return as president, he said and added that he “takes a neutral stance in favor of the unity of the party”

Regarding the new party that will be created, he clarified that “it is addressed to the whole of society, as the president said, the labels are now obsolete, the party is certainly based on the Left, from there it extends to the center and throughout the society”.

“We will not disintegrate, we will endure”, Mr. Kokkalis finally emphasized