An end to the thriller of the internal party elections in SYRIZA was decided by the participants at the 4th Congress of SYRIZA, after a stormy meeting today and an unprecedented ping pong of positions by Stefanos Kasselakis, Olga Gerovasilis and Sokratis Famellos.

By a show of hands, the proposal of Sokratis Famellos (jointly with N. Pappas and G. Tsipras) to not hold elections for a new president was passed so that there would be no deeper introversion in the party.

Dora Avgeri: “The Congress confirmed its confidence in President Stefanos Kasselakis”

“The Congress unanimously confirmed its confidence in the president,” party representative Dora Avgeri said in a statement to reporters and added:

“The Congress said “we have a president, so there is no need for elections, we go into the next election battles of SYRIZA with an established confidence, with a mandate to change everything”.

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The proposal of Stefanos Kasselakis was unified, after analyzing the Tsipras intervention and the candidacy of Olga Gerovasilis, he said “I can’t, we will go to elections on March 10” for the reasons he explained. That was the single sentence. Comrade Olga comes out and says “if you want to go to the elections on March 10, go alone”. Well, he didn’t accept the president’s proposal. She is clear and therefore her request for elections is absent, or rather the declaration of presence on her part for elections is absent.”

Gerovasili: The President should stop acting divisively

Olga Gerovasili stated that she will fully respect the decision of the conference as a sovereign body.

However, she emphasized that she will persist in her view that “the critical political condition for a successful course is for the President to stop operating in a divisive and polarizing manner.

Her post in detail:

“The conference decided to continue as we have, not to address the base and the members of #SYRIZA_PS.

Although the President of the Party proposed it.

The decision of the conference as a sovereign body is absolutely respected.

Now I will contribute and everyone will contribute, with all our strength for the best possible in the face of the upcoming election battle.

However, I will not stop insisting on the opinion that the critical political condition for a successful course is for the President to stop operating in a divisive and polarizing manner.

After all, this is what the congress told him in the challenge of “find me an opponent”.

What had come before

After Stefanos Kasselakis’ speech – where he announced elections on March 10 and immediate constitutional changes – the president of the SYRIZA PS Committee, Sokratis Famellos, took the floor, submitting a joint proposal with N. Pappas and G. Tsipras for not electing a new president and confirmation from the conference of its confidence in the party president, so that “we can go united in the next political and electoral battles, first of all the European elections”.

“Today we are here with the members of SYRIZA, I am here the base with democratically elected representatives and we have a brilliant possibility to solve the big issues, with the members of the party and their democratic representation who are here,” he said. He said that they took responsibility with Nikos Pappas and George Tsipras to present a “very simple proposal but a very important political proposal”. “We propose to vote before anything else then, the following: The party should not say a new cycle of introversion. There is no need for a new presidential election. The conference confirms its confidence in the president Stefanos Kasselakis, to go united in the next political and electoral battles, first of all the European elections. With a new political function, all bound by our statute and declaration for the interests of society and the country. With camaraderie, collegiality and with the positions and decisions of the fourth congress as a tool, we reconstitute the executive office with a regular function to strengthen our political action, which we authorize to process proposals to complete the transformation of our party”. “It is a proposal that the party is moving forward with. It moves the left and society forward and keeps us all united,” he emphasized.

Table tennis Gerovasilis – Kasselakis

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Then Olga Gerovasili took the floor saying: “Dear Stefan, in your opening speech you said find me an opponent and let’s go. If you revoke it we stop here. Otherwise I will never violate the party constitution. I am waiting. On the left there are no white checks, anyone who thought they could have this doesn’t understand something. Dear Stefan, I picked up the gauntlet you threw down, you threw it down. Now if you want elections in 10 days, you realize what you have said, just go ahead and see for yourself what you will get. I stand by what I said.” Stefanos Kasselakis replied asking her to withdraw her candidacy and we stop.

Mrs. Gerovasili, taking the floor again, said, among other things, that the congress is a sovereign body and that she was not the one who put forward the proposal for elections. Afterwards, the vote was taken on the proposal of S. Famellou – N. Pappas – G. Tsipras, to raise the delegates’ cards. “Guys, enough. The masks have fallen, we are not going to elections, we are moving forward”, said Stefanos Kasselakis.