By Antonis Anzoletou

SYRIZA enters a new twist, as the initiative of Stefanos Kasselakis to change the head of the parliamentary group via zoom from Chania and not wait for him to return from Crete only good results did not bring the majority. The intra-party opposition, while having seven members in the parliamentary group who had signed the text in “87” at the beginning of July (Olga Gerovasili, Katerina Notopoulou, Dionysis Kalamatianos, Christos Giannoulis, Miltos Zambaras, Athena Linou and Andreas Panagiotopoulos) increased its strength. The proposal to replace Sokratis Famellos by Nikos Pappa added to the “87” forces, even if unofficially, Symeon Kedikoglou, Marina Kontotoli, Costas Barkas, Theofilos Xanthopoulos, Giorgos Psychogios, as well as Sokratis Famelos. Miltos Zambaras “moved” to the present, while this choice was made by Giorgos Karameros, Haris Mamoulakis, and Giorgos Papailiou.

It is characteristic that after the end of the meeting the “battle” of the leaks from the two camps already started. The “87” characteristically noted: “a president without a majority in the K.O. Kasselakis. It has 17 out of 35 MPs.” Sources from the leadership answered that “the president has a huge majority in the base. Only this majority counts. If the group of “87” – or whoever it is after all – wishes, let them challenge him to the Central Committee”.

What officials close to the leadership appreciate is that the Chanio MP may back down and not challenge the leader of SYRIZA if he is convinced that the “kukias” do not come out on the first weekend of September. Despite the increase in strength registered yesterday at the parliamentary group level by the internal opposition, they argue that together with the “87” it is almost impossible to approach the “magic number” “151”. They remind that in the penultimate Central Committee, the intra-party opposition did not want a count to be made on the issue they disagreed with and it concerned the time of the statutory conference. The ’87’ side has an opposing view of the balance in the top governing body. It is estimated that they have around 110-120 votes in the body and Pavlos Polakis more than 30 and therefore the goal of the majority does not seem impossible. In any case, everything is fluid, as there seem to be dozens of votes that are “indeterminate”.

Yesterday’s meeting highlighted the two opposing camps with the parliamentary group now divided in two. The task of Nikos Pappas, as the new leader, to unite them will be difficult, as many believe that the path of division that the party has entered is irreversible. Losing strength within the party, Stefanos Kasselakis chose to propose for the position of the president of K.O. a person who has great influence in the party, in the institutions and was one of the “generals” of the victory, as he supported him in the second round of the internal party elections. Stefanos Kasselakis in his speech yesterday showed with two aversions that he is ready to clash:

– It was not by chance that he mentioned and warned during the presentation to the members of K.O that “whoever attempts to deprive SYRIZA of the position of official opposition that was given to it by the Greek people in the 2023 elections and reaffirmed in the 2024 European elections, will commit the greatest democratic crime: Altering the vote of the citizens regarding the parliamentary representation of the parties. And it will bear the stamp forever. Not by me. From the Greek people”.

– With his placement, he essentially showed the door of exit from the party to Christos Spirtzis with the Ethics Committee meeting on September 3. “It is not a political point of view to call on the TV the President of the party to resign, against the will of the organs and members of SYRIZA. The Ethics Committee may be following its own procedure, but it is clear that officials who express themselves in this way are consciously choosing to put themselves outside the party. Let the rest of us go ahead.”

In the Senate chamber the atmosphere was “frozen” when Stefanos Kasselakis analyzed the changes he is preparing. Very disturbed by the surprise, Sokratis Famellos put a temporary “brake” on the president’s plans, saying among other things: “I am not resigning”. The positions of the MPs were divided between the two camps with the “wells” outside the hall being too many. The counter wrote the final score “17-12-4” and with the marginal majority achieved by the majority all is now open.
In the next few hours, the “87” will meet in order to “weigh” their moves. It is not excluded after the result of the vote in K.O. to attempt to influence a larger proportion of members in the Central Committee. The next moves of Pavlos Polakis are awaited with interest.

How did the SYRIZA MPs vote in K.O.

“YES”

Elena Akrita
Evangelos Apostolakis
Alexandros Avlonitis
Calliope Vetta
George Gavrilos
Rena Douro
Rania Thraskia
Nina Kasimati
Vasilis Kokkalis
Malama Sunday
Alexandros Meikopoulos
Nikos Pappas
Petros Pappas
Iota Poulos
Yannis Sarakiotis
Theodora Tzakri
Christidou Rally

“NO”

Socrates Famous
Olga Gerovasili
Christos Giannoulis
Dionysis Kalamatianos
Simeon Kedikoglou
Marina Kontotoli
Athena Linou
Kostas Barkas
Katerina Notopoulou
Theofilos Xanthopoulos
Andreas Panagiotopoulos
George Psychogios

“PRESENT”

Miltos Zambaras
George Karameros
Haris Mamoulakis
George Papailiou