SYRIZA leader challenged by dozens of cadres
Some 87 SYRIZA prominent members and MPs sent a joint letter to Kasselakis on Thursday, criticizing his leadership and calling for a united left-wing front against the ruling New Democracy government.
Party members accuse Kasselakis of “divisive tactics, dismissals, and targeting of members for expressing their opinions,” while also expressing their disappointment at the European elections’ result.
“Despite the significant drop in ND’s percentages, SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance lost ground and the progressive space overall did not strengthen. Instead, we saw record abstention and a rise in the far-right,” they stated.
Kasselakis’ recent decision to stop the daily circulation of the party’s historic newspaper Avgi, also drew criticism.
“Critical decisions regarding the party’s media outlets, affecting employees and having historical significance for the Left, such as the suspension of Avgi’s daily edition, cannot be made without being discussed in any collective body,” they noted.
Moreover, SYRIZA members highlighted the need for a left progressive alliance.
“Cooperation among progressive forces is a major social demand and we must respond to this demand by forming a large progressive alliance, a front on both parliamentary and social levels, that will defeat ND in the next national elections,” they stated.
The letter is signed, among others, by former SYRIZA ministers Olga Gerovasili, Alekos Flambouraris, Yiannis Ragousis, and Christos Spirtzis, as well as by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ family members Giorgos Tsipras, and Zanet Tsipra.
This letter comes one day, after three top SYRIZA executives resigned from the party’s executive bodies, further testing the cohesion of the party.
“SYRIZA and its president, Stefanos Kasselakis have never been afraid of dialogue,” an official from the president’s office said, adding that all opinions and the political secretariat will convene on July 4 and the Central Committee on July 7.
