Kasselakis’ ‘Greek dream’ challenge
It is too early to know what impact Stefanos Kasselakis will have on political life and society. Will he be good for SYRIZA or will the party fall apart? Will he bring a breath of fresh air to public life, or will he just renew the populism of his principal backers in the party? In the coming days and weeks, every word from Kasselakis, every action, mistake and correction, will be analyzed and interpreted in a variety of ways, in an effort for us to understand who he is, what he wants and how he will act. His course so far, however, confirms one thing: Our political scene is extremely fluid and unpredictable.
Kasselakis found a strong base in the party, among cadres who now have acquired great influence
This year’s national elections revealed the people’s need for stable government, granting New Democracy a comfortable victory. But they also showed that many have lost interest in politics. Just 53.7 percent of registered voters turned up at the polls in June. SYRIZA was abandoned by many supporters. And yet, a few months later, 40,000 of the 135,000 who took part in the voting for a new party leader registered specifically for the event. We may assume that Kasselakis’ candidacy, coming out of nowhere and filling broadcast and social media, helped generate this interest; some would have registered to vote for him while others tried to avert his victory.
Either way, before the first round of voting, no one could have expected Kasselakis to win. It is most likely that his good relations with Alexis Tsipras and with cadres close to the former leader are the result of opportunism rather than strategy. This suits all concerned. Kasselakis found a strong base in the party, among cadres who now have acquired great influence whereas with another leader they would have been isolated and perhaps blamed for the party’s decline. Tsipras has found himself with an heir who, if he succeeds, will honor the former leader’s “legacy” (as Kasselakis has promised). On the other hand, if the new leader fails, Tsipras will look good by comparison. The dissidents within SYRIZA will keep complaining about the new leader’s indifference to institutional procedures, but no one else will care about this.
And yet, this is precisely where the true challenge lies for the obviously talented Kasselakis: To pursue the “Greek dream” that he has promised, he needs to clash not only with evident rivals, but also with those who today are his closest aides. And if he does clash with them, will he endure?
