Close Tsipras ally throws support behind Kasselakis in SYRIZA leadership race
SYRIZA leadership candidate Nikos Pappas on Tuesday voiced his support for frontrunner Stefanos Kasselakis after failing to make the cut on Sunday for the top spot in the leftist opposition party.
Pappas, a former minister and close confidant of ex-prime minister Alexis Tsipras – who stepped down after the party’s poor performance in May and June’s general elections – expressed his support for Kasselakis in a joint statement issued after a meeting between the pair in Parliament earlier in the day, in which they outlined their common vision for the party.
The move is seen as a confirmation of suggestions that Kasselakis enjoys the support of Tsipras and his allies inside the leftist coalition.
It also comes as Kasselakis’ rival in next Sunday’s runoff, Effie Achtsioglou, challenged him to a television debate this week.
Kasselakis effectively turned down the suggestion in a social media post shortly after, in which he invited Achtsioglou to go on a joint tour with him around the country before the weekend ballot.
“The modern Left does not want us to be against each other, but together,” he said.
Achtsioglou, for her part, responded, also via social media, that the debate needs to take place “precisely because we are comrades. For a sincere and essential discussion on our distinct political positions towards our common purpose, to defeat the right-wing government.”
Kasselakis, who appeared on the scene just weeks before the election race, pulled a hat-trick last Sunday, garnering 44.91% of the vote against 36.18% for Achtsioglou, a former labor minister.
Pappas got 8.68%, just below the 8.93% that went to former finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos. The fifth candidate, Stefanos Tzoumakas, got just 1.3%.
