Resignations plunge SYRIZA into turmoil
The resignations on Wednesday of three top executives from SYRIZA’s executive bodies are further testing the cohesion of the party that has been riveted by infighting.
Announcing their resignation on Wednesday, Dionysis Temponeras, Antonis Kotsakas and Haris Tsiokas expressed their dismay with recent comments by party leader Stefanos Kasselakis, who hinted in a social media post that SYRIZA had benefited from shady funding sources under his predecessor, former prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
The negative atmosphere was further compounded by the onslaught of critical statements by other top officials, sparking suggestions that a new split could be on the cards. For his part, Kasselakis’ close associate Evangelos Apostolakis referred to “black money” in all parties in Greece, and apparently said in discussions with journalists in Parliament that the president “could have avoided using the phrase ‘black money.’”Theodora Tzakri echoed similar sentiments in comments to state broadcaster ERT, while the party’s press representative Voula Kehagia told Naftemporiki that “we have never said that there was ‘black money’ in SYRIZA.” Olga Gerovasili, one of the vice presidents of the Parliament and a leading party official, characterized the resignations of the three officials as “a very unpleasant development,” while noting that she expects an explanation from Kasselakis when he returns from the US regarding “black money.” She also criticized the fact that the party bodies have not been convened for the major issues that have arisen.
Meanwhile, Apostolakis, Tzakri and Kehagia defended the controversial decision to suspend the daily edition of the SYRIZA-affiliated Avgi newspaper on Tuesday. Kasselakis himself claimed in an an interview with the expat radio station Kosmos in the US that the decision was made by the Political Secretariat of the party when his predecessor Tsipras was president, which, however, had not been implemented.
