SYRIZA: 100 central committee members ask Kasselakis to call for elections – Read their statement

A political contribution text, calling for elections to elect a new leader of SYRIZA from the party members, was submitted shortly before the start of SYRIZA’s Central Committee meeting by the group of 87.

The text, which contains harsh criticism of the SYRIZA President, is signed by 100 members of the Central Committee, excluding Pavlos Polakis and his supporters, who are expected to submit their own proposal.

Read the Statement

The Central Committee meeting is taking place at a highly critical time for SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance, which makes its character historically significant and places great responsibility on everyone involved. Our party is facing an unprecedented crisis. If we don’t address its causes immediately and decisively, we will continue to descend into introversion and disappoint the leftist and progressive citizens.

It is our historic duty to halt this downward trajectory. We owe it to the Greek people and the leftist and progressive world of the country — from the renewal and radical left, the socialist space, environmentalists, and the progressive center. We owe it to our history and the struggles we undertook to turn SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance from a small party into the government of the country and the main opposition. We cannot allow everything we’ve built over the years with hard work to collapse in a few months.

In the past few months, since the European elections, largely due to the responsibility of the party President, Stefanos Kasselakis, SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance has produced negative rather than positive events, fostering internal strife instead of outward focus. As long as this continues, it irreparably damages the party’s image, wounds its unity, and hurts its members, friends, and supporters.

The list of issues is long for such a short period. From the baseless references by the President to black funds, which he retracted after public backlash, to the unacceptable attacks on Alexis Tsipras via late-night posts. From the constant search for internal enemies to the public targeting of Political Secretariat and Central Committee members by the President himself. From childish handling of the Parliamentary Group to its division through the sudden and unjustified replacement of its leadership for internal power struggles.

Added to this is a purging mentality. The most recent example is the referral of Christos Spirtzis to the Ethics Committee with a recommendation for expulsion because he expressed his political opinion on the European election results and cooperation among progressive forces. This reflects an anti-democratic mindset that is foreign not only to SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance but also to the Left and progressive movements as a whole.

Meanwhile, the mishandling of critical party media outlets like the “Avgi” newspaper and “Sto Kokkino” radio station, through systematic concealment of real financial data and unacceptable treatment of employees, has created an image of indifference and dishonor for our party, which has always defended labor rights.

All these developments are occurring in a political environment that, following the European elections, demands collaboration among progressive forces. Despite the rapid decline of New Democracy’s support during the European elections, SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance retreated even further instead of regaining a governmental outlook.

It is necessary to present an alternative governance proposal from the progressive space to counter New Democracy. Otherwise, there is a visible risk of the far-right gaining ground, as is happening in more and more European countries. The current imbalance in the political system must be addressed. The social opposition, which is currently protesting in large numbers at the Thessaloniki International Fair, must find an outlet and transform into a progressive majority.

The Mitsotakis government has allowed profiteering to run rampant, benefiting the few and powerful at the expense of the broader social majority. It promotes a production model similar to the one that led the country to bankruptcy. At the same time, it has dismantled the National Health System, disrespected democratic institutions, pushed for the commercialization of inclusive public education, and failed to address housing and demographic issues, guarantee public safety, or make the country resilient to climate change effects.

In response to New Democracy’s policies, our party has developed programmatic positions and proposals to tackle inflation, increase incomes, support public health and education, promote productive restructuring, reduce housing costs, and upgrade civil protection. However, instead of placing these political issues at the center of our public discourse, we have been preoccupied with internal conflicts, due to the responsibility of the President.

Rather than taking initiatives to make SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance a driving force for a broad progressive electoral coalition, as stated in the previous Central Committee’s decision, the President now speaks disparagingly of such alliances as supposedly being the plans of powerful interests.

At a time when broader alliances and compromises are required, the President has been unable to achieve the necessary unity within our party, fueling internal division and leading SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance toward isolation within the ever-narrowing confines of a shrinking party, detached from the needs of the era and the expectations of the progressive world.

His push for a small, tightly controlled party is also reflected in the proposed changes to the party’s statutes, such as replacing Member Organizations with clubs, abolishing Regional Committees and the Political Secretariat, weakening the Central Committee, and granting excessive powers to the President.

These proposals would lead to the fragmentation of the party, the breakdown of its internal cohesion and camaraderie, the weakening of its daily activities and presence in society, and, ultimately, the transformation of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance from a democratic members’ party into a highly centralized one.

As for the President’s constant invocation of the members and their role, we have seen how hypocritical this is when he rejected the proposal for an internal referendum on alliances. We are also witnessing it in recent days, as he stubbornly refuses to call upon the party base, hiding instead behind marginal balances in the Central Committee.

We are not willing to legitimize a transformed party where there is no respect for democracy, our principles and values, or differing opinions. This should be the focal point for all comrades during this critical process, which threatens the party’s unity.

Moreover, the farcical nature of the President’s proposed name change for the party further tarnishes the party’s image and reflects a lack of seriousness, even on such significant issues concerning the identity of the main opposition party and the history of thousands of people and activists.

In any case, Stefanos Kasselakis was elected a year ago as President of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance to lead the party toward recovery, not to shrink or dissolve it, and certainly not to create a personal party on its ruins.

It is obvious that no one can pretend nothing is happening in the face of this situation, nor can we sweep these problems under the rug. This is the sure path to further shrinkage, decay, and the disappointment of even more leftist and progressive citizens. This situation cannot continue, and only clear solutions can address it.

Will SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance continue with introversion, division, internal enemies, and political infighting, as is happening now, or will it change course toward outward focus, unity, cooperation, and policymaking?

Will SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance play a leading role in the collaboration of progressive forces, or will it follow a path of isolation and shrink into a small protest party, as its current leadership is leading it?

Will SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance become a centralized and tightly controlled party under its President and his inner circle, or will it remain a democratic members’ party?

The only ones who can answer are the thousands of members and friends who will be called upon to decide the future of our party under the new conditions that have emerged.

The party President, Stefanos Kasselakis, must finally take responsibility and call for leadership elections. In a democracy, there are no dead ends.

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