A fragile and temporary truce
A major crisis that broke out earlier this week within the main opposition SYRIZA party was averted at the last minute with the party congress set to start on Thursday under a fragile and temporary truce among opposing sides.
Attention focuses on what party leader Stefanos Kasselakis’ stance will be and whether he will request a carte blanche and the commitment to remain party leader until the national elections, no matter how the party performs in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June. People are also expecting to see whether former party leader Alexis Tsipras will intervene in this open crisis and how.
Kasselakis’ demand to get assurances in advance that he will not be replaced and his leadership not be questioned until 2027, regardless of the results of the June elections is regarded as unprecedented in Greek politics.
What is probably true though is his blunt statement that if SYRIZA’s party structures were functioning effectively, he probably would not have been elected president.
How the latest crisis unfolded
Days before the critical congress was set to start, Kasselakis invited SYRIZA members to participate in an online survey and express their opinion regarding the party’s identity, logo and even the name.
High-ranking officials expressed their anger about the way he by-passed them and accused him of adopting an autocratic approach. An emergency political secretariat was organized on Monday, which Kasselakis, who was in London, decided not to attend online. Instead, he sent a letter accusing the political secretariat of forming a “conspiracy” against him.
The fact that some of the officials now highly critical of Kasselakis are close to Tsipras, fuelled speculation in local media that the ex-PM would throw his political weight behind an attempt to remove him from his post.
But even earlier supporters of the newly elected leader joined his critics and doubted his leadership.
“If there is no agreement with [Kasselakis], we should find another person who has the characteristics required to head to the European elections,” Giorgos Tsipras said.
Asked during his presence at LSE if he would quit if he loses in the European elections with a larger than 20 percent gap from ruling New Democracy, Kasselakis simply said “no.”
“We are a party of members, not executives, we are not a leader-centered party”, the political secretariat said in a statement, adding that it would reconvene on Tuesday. “In this struggle, chimeras and conspiracy theories should not and do not concern anyone in SYRIZA.”
After appearing in Athens’ Syntagma square in the farmers’ rally – separately from his party’s MPs – Kasselakis attended a tense political secretariat meeting, where he demanded an explicit commitment of support until the national elections, threatening to appeal to the grassroots for electoral confirmation and a re-foundation congress.
“I will not become a sacrifice (Iphigenia),” he reportedly said.
Most members of the political secretariat reacted, saying that everyone is judged in the elections.
“I do not consent to the de facto dissolution of SYRIZA,” Dionisis Temponeras from SYRIZA’s central committee reportedly said. “If the president wishes, he has every right to open the presidential election procedure.”
The meeting eventually reached an uneasy compromise, with Kasselakis backtracking on his ultimatum and the others agreeing to put any leadership discussions on hold, at least until after the EP elections.
How bumpy the road ahead is was evident even the next day. Officials close to Kasselakis noted on Wednesday that the questionnaire which caused the controversy is still uploaded in the party’s website and that it wasn’t their side that was forced to retreat.
