SYRIZA leader plays his final cards

Main opposition SYRIZA plunged into further turmoil as the proposal of party leader Stefanos Kasselakis for former state minister Nikos Pappas to take over as parliamentary group leader met the reaction of the incumbent Sokratis Famellos, who refused to step down and called for the issue of his replacement to be put to a vote.

“This proposal leads us to even more introspection. Real problems are not covered up by surprise and dismissals. For 11 months now, the parliamentary group has been working in unity and unanimity. It has produced great parliamentary work. The parliamentary group is not the problem,” Famellos said in a statement, adding that instead of rectifying problems, the proposal makes things much worse.

“I will not resign. The procedures provided for by the regulations of the parliamentary group should be followed. The motion of no confidence against me should be put to a secret vote,” he added. 

The move by Kasselakis during a meeting of the parliamentary group on Tuesday was seen as a last-ditch effort to put a brake on the mounting challenges within the party against his leadership. 

Participating in the meeting via Zoom from Crete, where he is for his wedding, Kasselakis also proposed several other changes to the parliamentary group positions.

“I want to sincerely thank Sokratis Famellos for the excellent cooperation we’ve had over the last 11 months,” stated Kasselakis, adding that he has asked Famellos to help with drafting SYRIZA’s governmental program.

Kasselakis explained the proposal for Pappas saying that he is a renowned economist with a PhD in economics from Strathclyde University in Scotland and that he even did his thesis on the microeconomic implications of Greece’s demographic problem.

He added that Pappas also taught at the university for four years.

“Nikos [Pappas] is a politician with solid political foundations, who has been targeted by the system… So, without equivocation, I stand with him against this rotten system. We are not going to let them win,” he stressed.

Kasselakis also proposed Giorgos Gavrilos, Giannis Sarakiotis and Nina Kasimati as parliamentary representatives, Vasilis Kokkalis as deputy parliamentary representative, and Giota Poulou as coordinator of the government monitoring committee (EPEKE).

Theodora Tzakri remains the secretary of the parliamentary group and Thanos Moraitis remains the director. Rallia Christidou continues as deputy EPEKE coordinator.