SYRIZA: Kasselakis Faction Intensifies Pressure on Alternate MPs to Relinquish Their Seats

The “Kasselistas” are escalating their internal power play, pressuring the five alternates on the SYRIZA State List. So far, the first alternate, Popi Tsapanidou, along with the other four candidates who could claim Iliopoulos’ seat, have remained silent.

With a collective demand for the resignation of all alternates, the goal is to ensure that Iliopoulos’ seat is “inherited” by SYRIZA PS President, Stefanos Kasselakis. According to party sources, yesterday saw a “barrage of support” from MPs and SYRIZA officials.

These sources also claim that “as many SYRIZA-PS members publicly express their views, this is the will of hundreds of thousands of party members,” emphasizing that “representation of SYRIZA-PS in Parliament by its President is politically necessary and institutionally correct.” They further argue that this move is a sign of respect for the clear intent of Othon Iliopoulos so that his resignation does not deprive Greeks abroad of their representation. Additionally, it shows “respect for the popular vote, the thousands of SYRIZA-PS voters who participated in the party’s internal elections last September and elevated Stefanos Kasselakis to the position of Opposition Leader.”

Officials and MPs

In this context, numerous SYRIZA PS officials and MPs have publicly supported handing over the parliamentary seat to Stefanos Kasselakis, including:

• The Secretary of the Parliamentary Group, Theodora Tzakri,
• The SYRIZA-PS Sector Coordinators’ Coordinator, Giannis Sarakiotis,
• The Deputy Coordinator of EPEKE, Rallia Christidou,
• The Secretary of the Central Committee of SYRIZA-PS, Rania Svigou, and
• The Coordinator of the Organizational Office of SYRIZA-PS, Giannis Voulgarakis.

Additionally, several MPs have echoed similar sentiments on social media, including:

• Nikos Pappas,
• Nina Kasimati,
• Giorgos Gavrilis,
• Petros Pappas,
• Alexandros Avlonitis,
• Alexandros Meikopoulos,
• Giorgos Karameros,
• Kyriaki Malama,
• Kalliopi Vetta,
• Rania Thrascia,
• Kostas Barkas,
• Andreas Panagiotopoulos, and
• Vassilis Kokkalis.

These officials emphasize that after Othon Iliopoulos’ resignation, the Leader of the Opposition must be able to defend SYRIZA-PS’s positions and proposals within the Greek Parliament.

Lali and the True Targets

Meanwhile, the intensifying pressure from the “Kasselistas” may struggle to achieve its goal, as all five alternates up to the ninth position on the list would need to resign for Stefanos Kasselakis to take Iliopoulos’ seat. However, the stance of SYRIZA PS’s eighth alternate, Zorzeta Lali, who insists on her right to be sworn in as an MP if the seat is offered to her, appears to abruptly end this discussion.

Lali’s position remains unchanged, and she had previously explained her stance to Kasselakis in a phone call last winter, refusing to relinquish her claim to the seat.

As a result, it seems that the true targets of the pressure exerted by Kasselakis’ supporters are not the five alternates on the State List.

With the seat of Othon Iliopoulos potentially lost, either to Tsapanidou or Lali, long-time SYRIZA PS officials suggest that “the goal may be broader and beyond the obvious” concerning the Kasselistas’ pressure campaign. Specifically, as it appears Kasselakis may not enter Parliament via Iliopoulos’ seat, he could still potentially secure another seat on the State List.

Using the same arguments as the “Kasselistas”—that the State List represents the entire country and not just a single constituency, and that ranking, not personal votes, determines election—some within SYRIZA PS interpret this pressure as an indirect push towards Evangelos Apostolakis and Elena Akrita.

In particular, should Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis resign, Kasselakis could potentially become a SYRIZA PS MP, though in the worst case, one of Alexis Tsipras’ close associates, Popi Tsapanidou or Michalis Kalogirou, or even Athanasios Tsagris, a key figure in the “World” faction under Petros Kokkalis, could claim the seat. Given these scenarios, the most likely outcome appears to be Kasselakis entering Parliament via Akrita’s seat, as there would be no one among the alternates likely to oppose him, bringing him one step closer to exercising executive power.

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