With the positions of the congressmen, the work of the third day of the 4th Congress of the SYRIZA PS continued until its conclusion, which takes place in a heavy atmosphere.

Giorgos Tsipras: “It is a mistake to go to an intra-party electoral process just before the European elections”

It is a mistake to go to an intra-party electoral process just before the European elections, said George Tsipras, although he harshly criticized the president of SYRIZA-PS, Stefanos Kasselakis.

He also said in his speech: “Alexis Tsipras, who was supposed to be here today, said that President Stefanos Kasselakkis clearly raised a matter of trust in his person. And what did Stefanos Kasselakis answer? Let’s go to new internal party elections after five months. It is a mistake that Mr. Kasselakis raised the issue of trust in his person and it is a mistake that Alexis Tsipras replied that he is rightly going to an internal party election. For five months now we have been losing ground, the lack of seriousness and credibility that existed before is growing. It is crucial whether SYRIZA will remain the second party in the European elections. In the last two months, when the Mitsotakis government was faced with most fronts, SYRIZA did not win and did not regain momentum. Stefanos Kasselakis has the first responsibility for the mistakes and wrongdoings, just as Alexis Tsipras did in the past and even more so because he decides on his own. Let’s not confuse the dynamics of Stefanos Kasselakis in the party with the dynamics of SYRIZA in society”.

George Tsipras described a low flight of SYRIZA in society and added that “it is to blame that there is no political function in the party. The president has been making decisions on his own for the last few months. Was there sabotage? There was no undermining by the Parliamentary Group. The great majority of executives and members supported Stefanos Kasselakis and there was no lack of trust in him. On the contrary, there was no trust of the president towards the executives. He himself chose to distance himself from the party officials.”

In closing, he suggested that the Congress decide “to go in an orderly manner to fight the battle of the European elections with Stefanos Kasselakis” and was drafted with the proposal of Nikos Pappas and Sokratis Famellos.

Panos Rigas: “To ensure the unity of SYRIZA-PS”

The need for SYRIZA-PS to overcome its crisis with unity was underlined by Panos Rigas and he added that what is important is to respond to the needs and demands of the society protesting against the Mitsotakis government.

He also said: “The party is hollow, things are coming out in the media that offend everyone. In order to overcome the crisis, the Conference must end with decisions. As far as the transformation of the party is concerned, the members should have participation and a role. The needs are there. The pyramid party is over. We need to activate social networks. Personal paths and options cannot exist in the party. Those who left after the victory of Kasselakis did not respond politically but with personal strategies. I will try my best for unity. No liquidation and no attempt to dissolve the party as many are attempting. In any presidential election we must promise that the next day we will not do what some who lost and left did.”

Kostas Zachariadis: SYRIZA will be called upon to govern again if it is regrouped

“SYRIZA will be called to govern again if it regroups, if it gives answers, if it talks about the future, if it produces policy. And we can, and we know, and we want to,” Costas Zachariadis emphasized, citing the “great legacy” and the “historical intersection” of Alexis Tsipras’ governance.

“We will all together make SYRIZA great again”, he said, commenting that “the reason we are here”, some from before and some from more recently, “has a name and it is called Alexis Tsipras”. “So whether we agree or disagree, we owe respect to words and everything and not suggestions, not pointing fingers. And low tones, no disapprovals and jingles in the speeches.” “Love, companionship, solidarity, extroversion, this is the left, this is the democratic faction, this is the progressive world of the country, this is SYRIZA,” he added.

Ahead of tomorrow’s votes, Mr. Zachariadis said that “the body must decide whether to proceed or reject the president’s proposal to elect a new president. I also listen to what Comrade Famellos said, who says no polls. It is a decision that will be made by all of us with one vote each.” He emphasized that “but if we make the decision to follow what he suggests, the elections, we must have a smooth and democratic congressional dialogue and that means time as provided by our statute, in one month.” This, he said, in order for everyone to be able to listen to the candidates, what everyone thinks and wants to do, what changes to the statute, what the party’s personality is, what the role of the organs is. “Here, elections open with dialogue and the possibility of exchanging opinions, comradely and of course with a ballot box, so that the people go and vote as they did and voted for Tsipras and Kasselakis and with an open and transparent process, for a pan-democratic invitation to society “, he said.

At the beginning of his speech, Mr. Zachariadis described the image of social challenges and mobilizations, commenting on the opinion poll image of SYRIZA, namely that “farmers and students are in mobilizations, freelancers have mobilized, accuracy sweeps disposable income and SYRIZA instead of rising is falling”. He expressed concern about going the wrong way on a number of issues, stressing that “we need to start campaigning for accuracy and accommodation rather than wallowing in introversion and looking for internal enemies and adversaries.” “Whoever seeks them is actually seeking them because he wants to avoid his own responsibilities,” he commented, adding: “leadership means responsibility, whether you are a member of parliament or in the Central Committee, or in the political Secretariat, or President. This is what Alexis Tsipras taught us for so many years, both as president and as leader of the official opposition and as prime minister, to love responsibility and to take it on.” He also said that “leadership means to compose, to unite, to bridge. So in SYRIZA there are only fellow competitors and fellow travelers. The opponent is conservation and conservative policies.” He commented that “it is true that the period from which we chose our leadership is short, but the shift in our public discourse is also great and we must examine everything: From ‘I came to beat Mitsotakis’, from ‘we will come out first in the European elections’, we are giving way to I will be judged in ’27 and ‘I want a blank check for the European elections'”.

“All of us, from the member to the leadership, must understand that the parties do not hide either in the Central Committee, nor in the congresses, nor in the votes, nor in grassroots elections. The elections judge the parties, the elections are the battles”, he stressed. Mr. Zachariadis stated, among other things, that “in order to regroup SYRIZA, it requires sincerity, trust in the institutional representation and a clear political plan. We can’t change our strategy every week depending on the audience we’re addressing.”