SYRIZA internal tensions continue in second day of Central Committee meeting

SYRIZA’s internal tensions continued on Sunday, the second day of the party’s Central Committee meeting. Sunday’s SYRIZA’s Central Committee meeting will conclude in the evening with a vote on the party’s draft Political Resolution.

After SYRIZA President Stefanos Kasselakis had claimed that he made a phone call to former labor minister Effie Achtsioglou in good faith before Saturday’s committee meeting, Achtsioglou denied, according to state broadcaster ERT, that SYRIZA president Stafanos reached out.

Party members commented that the outgoing call was recorded at 11.32 a.m. saying that Achtsioglou may have missed the call. Achtsioglou added that the call was from an unknown number, while at that time she was already present at the meeting’s venue.

Since Kasselakis was elected as the new leader of Syriza, the party has been riven with internal strife and tensions. Key party members have either announced their departure from the party or been pushed out, while members of the “Umbrella” faction, which represents the left-wing opposition within the party and includes figures like former finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos, are reportedly ready to press the “split” button.

On Saturday, Kasselakis called on the members of the party’s central committee to expel four prominent party cadres who have been highly critical of him since his election. If the central committee votes down the request, Kasselakis said he will proceed with a referendum to push through with his decision.

Achtsiglou’s and Dinoysis Tembolas’ factions, as well as the “Umbrella” faction, requested an immediate vote to revoke Kasselakis’s proposal. The request was denied with the decision to vote on Sunday after a two-hour debate. This was followed by a coordinated departure of the different factions from the committee meeting.

Dionysis Tembolas, a member of SYRIZA’s political secretariat, stated on Sunday on television broadcaster MEGA that he estimates Kasselakis will withdraw his referendum proposal.

“I consider it a task of today’s central committee meeting to withdraw the referendum proposal and from then on I think Stefanos Kasselakis should take a leadership initiative,” commented Tembolas.