The chickens have come home to roost
Former SYRIZA secretary Panos Skourletis alleged on Tuesday that his party, specifically its former leader, Alexis Tsipras, had established a clandestine network dedicated to spreading disinformation through social media platforms. This network aimed to undermine those who opposed Stefanos Kasselakis’ candidacy to lead the left-wing opposition. Skourletis, who was this week removed from SYRIZA by the new party leader, pointed out that prominent journalists who contribute to newspapers and manage numerous social media accounts promoting the former SYRIZA leader were behind these operations.
It’s better late than never. Skourletis’ revelations confirm what this column has been stating repeatedly over the years regarding the fanatical party-sponsored trolls in Tsipras’ service. These accounts target political adversaries and engage in character assassinations of politicians, journalists, cartoonists, and anyone who criticizes SYRIZA and poses a threat to the party’s interests.
This is the way the party, under Tsipras’ leadership, conducted itself, both in power and as the opposition. They strove to construct a negative narrative for everything happening in the country, following the pattern of offensive posts by Pavlos Polakis, the outspoken former alternate health minister. These accounts criticized the conservative administration’s “wrong-headed” vaccination policy, which they claimed was endangering lives, government benefits that supposedly “impoverished” citizens, economic policies that “play into the hands of” major interests, and an “inward-looking” foreign policy that works to appease Turkey. They branded opposition politicians as “sellouts,” judges as “corrupt,” and journalists as “compromised.”
SYRIZA governed by seeking culprits, creating adversaries, and harassing those who did not align with their ideology through their writings, cartoons, and opinions. Tsipras, who condescendingly referred to critics as barking dogs as his government caravan moves on, now ironically preaches about democracy and integrity. Nevertheless, these malicious narratives propagated by the party’s keyboard warriors, the fanatical trolls, were soundly rejected in multiple elections, including those in May, June and October.
Nonetheless, the same machinery persists and is now directed against internal party opponents. The trolls that SYRIZA cultivated, or at least tolerated for years, are currently targeting the party itself and those who challenge Koumoundourou’s plans. It is certainly ironic. But hindsight always comes too late.
