Polakis calls for new SYRIZA leadership vote amid rising tensions

Lawmaker Pavlos Polakis has called for a new leadership contest in the main opposition party through a grassroots vote during an ongoing meeting of SYRIZA’s political secretariat on Thursday.

Polakis criticized leader Stefanos Kasselakis’ decision to expel him and then reinstate him into SYRIZA’s parliamentary group on Tuesday, saying, “I am not a child to be expelled and readmitted without proper communication.” His expulsion came after Polakis had verbally attacked an aide to Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis during a parliamentary debate on the government’s psychiatric care bill.

He added, “It was clear how staged the entire situation was.”

Polakis, a former ally of Kasselakis, has pushed for leadership changes.

The SYRIZA central committee will meet this weekend to address these issues. It remains to be seen how Kasselakis will respond and how the so-called “87” faction of the party, which also supports grassroots involvement, will react.