How Kasselakis made a U-turn on SYRIZA, and why people in ND fear him

Handsome, tall, young, openly gay: this is how the Greek media described Stefanos Kasselakis a few hours after he announced his candidacy for the presidency of SYRIZA PS.

A politician unknown to most Greeks until this moment managed to win the first round of elections to SYRIZA, and everything indicates that it is he who will become the new president of the opposition party, replacing Alexis Tsipras in this post.

His first “victory” came against the bookmakers, whose predictions, he said, he “threw in the bucket” because they did not consider him the favorite to win.

He wants to win a second victory over Efi Ahcioglu, who represents the “Ομπρέλα” (umbrella) faction and, first of all, those members of SYRIZA who want the party to move… to the left.

A college kid with an American mentality, who worked for Joe Biden and Goldman Sachs, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, married in the US to a man who is on friendly terms with large capitalist groups around the world, is running for leadership of the left-wing party SYRIZA! This could be a “coffee shop story”, but it is a reality called Stefanos Kasselakis, this is how the Greek publication comments on the situation espressonews

Romantic evening of Stephonos with her husband Tyler at the Acropolis

A few hours after Tsipras’s resignation, we wrote that the former president of Syriza could create his own party, which would move more towards the center and consist of representatives of all political directions. He may not have to do this, since Stefanos Kasselakis is capable of doing the same in SYRIZA, even with a significant advantage over Tsipras: ohe is the first openly gay man in Greek politics, which means he is guaranteed support from his colleagues (in all respects) in Brussels and Washington.

This is how their political opponents comment on the evolution of the left.

At the same time, even critics note that Stefanos Kasselakis has leadership qualities, knows how to “play” to the public and at the same time does not have a series of political failures behind him. This means that, having received support from his colleagues, he has every chance of becoming the one who will breathe new breath into SYRIZA, and this is well understood in New Democracy, as well as in PASOK.

Kasselakis noted the following during the election campaign: “In SYRIZA I found many people with whom I agree in political culture and some with whom I theoretically do not agree. I would like SYRIZA to be a more democratic party, and not a personality-oriented party. lacking a social basis. Politicians need to be accustomed to hard work, something practical, not just texting and bickering. It’s about how you come into politics and what your personality is as a person. Over the last three months “I’ve met a few politicians who I consider professional. They might be offended when I say that, but that’s the reality.”

He also strives to create a democratic party like the American one, “in which we will be centrist in some ways and very progressive in others,” as he says!

Stefanos Kasselakis with former SYRIZA President Alexis Tsipras

Alexis Tsipras left the party with far from the best performance in the ratings, and, of course, everything indicated that SYRIZA PS did not have the potential to return to power, at least not immediately. Many even predicted that SYRIZA would collapse. However, they were wrong. Help for SYRIZA came from where the old leftists did not even expect.

Many experts believe that Stefanos Kasselakis has a chance to raise the party’s ratings and win back the votes of citizens who voted for ND or PASOK in the last elections, because they have not forgotten the serious mistakes made by the SYRIZA PS government when it was in power.

Will he be able to do this? Unknown. But, of course, former MP Petros Konstantinas is right: “When a person comes and a month later receives such a percentage of votes, you don’t ask him to tell you his program, you ask him for his autograph and treasure it like the apple of your eye.”

For SYRIZA, supporting the LGBTQ+ community is the last chance to return to power. Moreover, the candidacy of Stefanos Kasselakis is supported by many very influential people both in Greece and abroad.

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