The head of the SYRIZA central committee, Georgios Tsipras, raised the issue of leadership in the party in a recent radio interview, saying that “If we cannot reach an agreement with him, we must find another person who has the characteristics to go to the European elections.”
It is noted that Georgios Tsipras, cousin of A. Tsipras, was one of the main supporters of the candidacy of S. Kasselakis in the autumn 2023 party elections. Obviously, G. Tsipras also represents former Prime Minister A. Tsipras, who has been distancing himself from Kasselakis for several months.
The fact that the members of the political secretariat of the party decided yesterday to give Stefanos Kasselakis the opportunity to directly participate in the new meeting, in order to make final decisions on the procedures, the party member also commented:
“I don’t know if the dawn will come, I hope, in the presence of the president, everything that is happening is not very pleasant. SYRIZA must exist, exist and defend the party. The political function must be restored in SYRIZA in order to perform well in the European elections.”
Speaking about direct contact with society, which was Stefanos Kasselakis’ “trick”, Georgios Tsipras said: “Unmediated is not bad, the more contact with society and members, the better for the leader. But unmediated does not mean “I do what I wanna do””.
What he said about S. Kasselakis
When asked if Stefanos Kasselakis has support, Georgios Tsipras first commented on the situation: “Since the former comrades left, there have never been any questions to the president, there was a readiness to support the new course, and we can continue as long as there is understanding. I don’t see such a mood. I hope that a solution can be found today, this is the mood of everyone in the RG. I supported Kasselakis before he was elected, I was never part of the leadership team. After that, I supported him, as we all should. There must be an understanding to follow a coordinated path until the European elections, without surprises, without “I decide”, as it should be in the functioning of the party of the democratic left, I hope that a solution will be found for a better prospect before the European elections.”
Regarding what will happen after the European elections, Mr. Tsipras said: “We discuss it again afterwards. Everything is allowed, all discussions are allowed, we are a democratic party. We must ensure political functioning before the European elections. If it is provided and we get a good result, then perhaps we will not have to change management. The minimum good result is second place.”
The question of competition even on the eve of the European elections
On the question of whether SYRIZA should go to the European elections with a collective leadership, G. Tsipras spoke categorically negatively, but was not negative about the possibility of changing the president before the elections: “No, there must be Kasselakis before the European elections, if there is no understanding, there must be a person who will gather the consensus of all of us, unanimously, to go before the European elections.”
According to latest pollWell, after Stefanos Kasselakis came to the leadership of SYRIZA, the party has lost half of the votes since the fall of 2023 and in fact already occupies 3rd place, losing to PASOK. A few more months of this policy, and SYRIZA will move to 4th place, Greek political scientists believe.
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