SYRIZA standing at three-way crossroads
The atmosphere in main opposition SYRIZA remains explosive, with its leader Stefanos Kasselakis attempting to gauge the mood within the party by convening the parliamentary group on Tuesday.
With the crucial central committee meeting just 12 days away, the different camps are already busy calculating their respective strengths.
Kasselakis’ camp insists that the majority is secure, but members of the so-called “group of 87” believe that having grown their strength to over 110 members, they can, with the support of Pavlos Polakis, reach the magic number of 151 required to raise the issue of leadership.
Polakis, who was ousted from the party’s parliamentary group in July, has openly challenged Kasselakis’ leadership, and has the support of some 30 members.
The divisions within the party are reflected in a political text signed by 870 members of SYRIZA, including 34 from the central committee. Among other things, it states, “We can no longer stand idly by, seeing specific executives and groups within our party who, in close cooperation with the party bureaucracy, are methodically gnawing away at both the president, Stefanos Kasselakis, and the very project of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance, for which we have given a huge fight since 2012.”
In any case, everything appears to be fluid, with dozens of “indeterminate” votes.
The lingering question is what Kasselakis would do if Polakis, his influential former ally, challenges him and the majority in his favor is small or wins by only 10-20 votes. In this scenario the inevitable question will be whether he will be able to continue as president if over half of the central committee members have challenged him. The answers possibly in this case will be given by the party conference that will follow and will change not only the composition but also the institutions themselves.
