Socratis Famellos joins SYRIZA’s leadership race
SYRIZA MP Sokratis Famellos announced on Thursday he will run for president of the leftist main opposition party, bringing the number of leadership hopefuls to three.
“Greek society needs a serious, reliable and dynamic SYRIZA,” Famellos said in a video posted on social media platform X. “I take on the responsibility to guarantee unity, first and foremost, as I have demonstrated, by stopping introversion and toxicity.”
“I understand those who are disappointed by us and I invite you to come back, to rebuild our house, a new SYRIZA, a real progressive alliance,” he adds, calling on party supporters to participate in the party elections on November 24.
Famellos has the backing of the “group of 87,” members of the central committee (including seven lawmakers) who are supporters of the former prime minister and party leader Alexis Tsipras.
The leadership race was launched on September 8 after SYRIZA’s central committee approved a vote of no-confidence against leader Stefanos Kasselakis. The now-former leader announced that he will run again in the upcoming election. Kasselakis will face outspoken MP Pavlos Polakis who had announced his intension to run but officially submitted his candidacy on Thursday.
Apostolos Gletsos, a former mayor of Stylida in central Greece and once a hugely popular soap opera actor, has also expressed his interest in running.
