For a “very painful procedure of Central Committee which resulted in some decisions by a majority”, said Mr Pavlos Polakis after the Central Committee meeting.

He stated in his statements that the KE did not accept his proposal to speed up the procedures, the Congress of declaring candidacies and the dates for the elections “which I continue to believe would provide a more immediate solution to the crisis we are facing now”.

“From then on the majority decided, I personally will organize and plow the whole country in order to bring the message of a programmatic speech for the reconstruction of SYRIZA, which must really honor its role as the official opposition and as the force that which will be able to lead to the fall of the neoliberal government of Mitsotakis”, he added. He called on all sides “to show calmness and restraint, to lead in a coordinated manner in these procedures and in the election of the president and then in the election of the Central Committee and the constitutional conference and programmatic restructuring”. “It is a difficult path but we will walk it and emerge victorious,” he said.

When asked about the issue of “where do you belong” he replied that in the proposal he made he said that “the only condition for a presidential candidate to step down is the 30 signatures from KE members and MPs/MEPs. All the rest, I think, contribute to the attempt of some to play it as a victim, and that’s why I don’t want it.” “Anyway, my relationship has been known to the public for many years,” he added.