Difficult day after for headless SYRIZA
The historic – by parliamentary standards – dismissal of Stefanos Kasselakis as leader of SYRIZA has landed the leftist opposition party in uncharted waters.
SYRIZA is headless for the second consecutive year, its presence at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) will be feeble, while it is not charging into the budget battle that will soon begin firing on all cylinders.
Kasselakis’ ouster was essentially brought about by the decision of his former ally Pavlos Polakis to challenge him.
Reports suggest that the “Group of 87” managed to collect 140-145 votes with the decisive contribution of about 20 influential members of the central committee that are under the influence of Polakis.
Several people noted that he also managed to lure Kasselakis supporters. The so-called “guard” of his predecessor Alexis Tsipras has been working all this time on a plan to “recapture” the party, having decided to be the first to proceed with the filing of a motion against Kasselakis.
The inability of the leadership to acquiesce in holding a ballot resulted in the release of uncontrollable forces. It is a fact that Kasselakis, according to reliable sources, was receiving suggestions that he should pick up the gauntlet and lead the party to elections. Not seeing the signals of a change of climate that were there, the motion demoralized him. The vote on the changes to the leadership of the SYRIZA parliamentary group was a clear demonstration that he did not control half of his parliamentary group and was the first loud alarm bell. This was followed by falling short during votes taken by the statute committee, the ethics committee, and the political secretariat.
Regarding the election of a new leader, the political secretariat meeting on Tuesday and the central committee (in two weeks) will decide on the timetables from now on. The view of the Group of 87 that the party should not rush into the leadership contest is reportedly gaining ground.
