Syriza party’s end-of-February conference

with A marginal majority “passed” through Syriza’s political secretariat Suggested by Stefanos Kasellakis To implement it Extraordinary Syriza congress at the end of February. According to information, the proposal was voted on by a majority of 20 members, 10 members opposed it, while 8 abstained from voting. It is worth noting that Thanassis Theocharopoulos, Yannis Ragoussis and Stefanos Tzoumakas did not participate in the vote. This shows that the Syriza leadership does not have a majority in the Syriza Political Secretariat.

Voting result It also reflects an image of political division recorded on the instrument. With the Syriza president receiving heavy criticism regarding the political positions he expresses publicly on a wide range of political issues but also on issues related to democracy within the party. It now appears that an extremely difficult four-month period has been set for Syriza’s internal cohesion with a questionable final outcome.

Let’s remember that the meeting For the political secretariat It started at 5 pm With an introduction by Stefanos Kasellakis. While long hours appointments for the executives present followed.

Kasellakis’ proposal

The main political elements of Stefanos Kasellakis’ initial proposal were as follows:

a A clear reluctance – the audacity to “point” a political accusation at the Syriza leadership group Immediate possibility of split To Syriza. That is why the proposal he submitted to the party’s extraordinary conference at the end of February was the minimum possible so that there would be no rejection from the party’s political secretariat. This is despite the fact that – according to information – there were also proposals in the leadership group of Syriza for a more “aggressive” policy towards Umbrella and in general towards the executives who did not side with Stefanos Kasellakis.

One was also recorded There is a clear tendency to “abandon” the rhetoric about the alliance with PASOK With Stefanos Kasellakis stating that he aspires to “a left that unites and cooperates for the good of the country.” Where we can. “In self-government, in unions, in movements, but also in parliament.” At the same time, he added, “I make clear that the strategic goal of Syriza-PS is and must be the formation of an independent progressive government.”

Stefanos Kasellakis Avoid critical language towards party officials It was not taken into account in the “climate” of his presidency, which he recently adopted by threatening not to include him in the party’s ballot boxes. It is enough to talk about focusing on the unmediated relationship with society, but “this does not mean that we will abolish institutions.” He was also particularly vague about the role the Syriza electronic platform would play in the new party structure, as well as about the party’s European policy, which he placed politically somewhere between the left and the socialists, stating that this would be done “in the context of the European left, together with AKEL, “along with left-wing parties, for the narrative of the modern European ruling left.”

Stefanos Kasellakis noted this, especially with regard to the conference “It will express unity, synthesis and the journey forward.” “It will lead us on an upward path that will also be recorded in the European elections.” He also pointed out that there will be 13 regional conferences in his personal presence.

Pappas: To realize that there has been a change in leadership

An assistant appeared in the positions of Stefanos Kasellakis Nikos Pappas. He pointed this out, addressing those who expressed their differences “We have to realize that there is a leadership election and not act as if it did not happen.” He added, “There were voices of criticism that were, to say the least, hasty and unfair.” In fact, he noted, “If there is an issue of abolishing the presidential election list from the base, it should be raised.” He also said that “our declaration defines our identity” and that “the roadmap for the conference is to implement the mission of transformation and expansion.”

Political discussion

Stefanos Kasellakis found himself at the opposite end Face to face with a political debate after all. Focusing on Syriza’s positions. In this context, the opinion he expressed regarding the lack of clarity about who was responsible for the bombing of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza was also raised, which is almost identical to the position expressed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his television interview. Same time.

Also from many sides and from executives with different starting points Strong disagreements were expressed About the Issues of the internal work of the partyThese are the positions that the party president has adopted publicly, as well as regarding Syriza’s path. In this case in particular, great concern has been expressed about the continuing decline in official opposition figures.

Strong criticism was made by Efe Ahzoglu (Who even chose to address the Syriza party leader in the plural). She is said to have described the concept developed by Stefanos Kasellakis at the annual general meeting of Syriza Bank regarding “capital as an instrument” as “unheard of” and also expressed strong opposition to the logic of “undermining the unity of the Syriza Central Committee” which she estimated was being expressed by Before leading the party. This is a position supported by Alexis Haritsis and Dimitris. Tzanakopoulos, in fact, the latter characteristically said that “what I said to SEV goes beyond the left.”

About loneliness

Criticism of the tactics of the new president of the Syriza party regarding Issues related to internal unity. While Euclid Tsakalotos stressed that unity will be tested “in the coming weeks,” he pointed out that “the call for unity comes from two parties. One side relates to the comrades who are truly keen on the unity of the party. As for the other party, it is the one that wants the majority to impose itself on the minority in terms of The winner and the loser, effectively eliminating the latter and violating the democratic principle based on the dialectical relationship between the majority and the minority, with companionship and respect.

With the same logic “It takes two people to tango,” Anita Kavadia noted. As far as loneliness is concerned. She is not shy about talking about “leftists” and “sharp” or making public threats to officials, 3 days before the second round of self-rule elections. But at the same time, he criticized issues related to developments in Palestine, asking, “Where is the party’s call for mobilization today for the Palestinian cause?” Likewise, “Who gave the right to some, such as Theodora Zachry, to appear on the channels and describe Mitsotakis’ decision to go to Israel a few hours after the hospital bombing as positive?” He also requested “to go to a conference in accordance with the European Union’s decision (November), prior to holding one of the 13 regional conferences, to discuss our positions. Because this is an important matter, it is important to evaluate the defeat and then the regional conferences.”

We go from bad to worse

Also of interest are criticisms of Syriza’s declining trajectory by executives who were not included in the “umbrella”.

the Dionysus Tiboneras It said He repeated what he said in his last article in the Editors’ Magazine. He pointed out that “the possibility of political collapse is clear.” In addition, “Syriza-PS is now failing at all levels. The leadership, an illegitimate leadership elite that affects the entire party base, the liquidation of the party, the absence of a strategic plan, the refusal to self-criticism, the formation is exposed to multiple risks.

focus on The Syriza party’s influence and political proportions continue to decline. With Yannis Ragoussis reminding us that “we did not change leadership for reasons of self-efficacy and the completeness of Alexis Tsipras’ leadership.” It is clear that we did not change a leader, a former prime minister, who is only 48 years old, for reasons of age renewal. We did not change the president for reasons of unity or the legitimacy of his party among the base and members. Alexis Tsipras got 99%, not 56%. While his very specific political plan for radical changes in the Socialist Party of Syriza was implemented, it was approved by an overwhelming majority in Congress, and all this in 2022. That is, just last year. Alexis Tsipras has stepped down and we have changed leadership for one reason only. Literally for one reason only: to stop our major electoral decline. We did not change the leadership to watch as we moved from bad to worse, from second place to third place, and from the position of the official opposition to the position of the minor opposition.”

from direction Stefanos Tzoumakas “If the Socialist Syriza Party continues with the same anti-political tactics and choices of political incompetence, it will have more negative electoral results,” he noted.

The episode with Polakis

once again The presence of Pavlos Poulakis did not go unnoticed At the body meeting. He found himself in confrontation with Andreas Xanthos as well as Alexis Haritsis over the practice followed in the run-up to the national elections. He even refused it Responsibilities To the President of Health and Development due to the lack of sufficient opposition. The fact sparked a confrontation, raising the tone a lot. “You are one of Mitsotakis’ protégés,” Panos Skorletis reportedly told Pavlos Poulakis, noting that “every time we appeared on the channels, in the five minutes we had at our disposal, we had to apologize to you in three of them.”