Stefanos Kasselakis

Leftist SYRIZA on Thursday saw its position as the main opposition slip away after two of its MPs defected, leaving the embattled party with 29 MPs and its spot taken over by third-placed center-left PASOK.

On Thursday morning, Theodora Tsakri and Giota Poulou announced their decision to leave SYRIZA and become independent MPs.

Following this development, SYRIZA now holds 29 parliamentary seats, which means that PASOK, with 31 MPs, takes on the role of the main opposition party.

As former opposition leader Stefanos Kasselakis prepares to unveil the name of his new political formation on Saturday, another MP in the embattled SYRIZA party announced her intention to leave its parliamentary group on Thursday, a move that would whittle the leftists' position and leave it trailing now third-placed center-left PASOK.

With deep dives into the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance’s governmental past, plenty of “friendly fire” among comrades, and repeated references to their return to opposition benches, the two-plus-hour debate between the four contenders for the party’s presidency unfolded. From the very first moments, the participants enthusiastically plunged into the battle of impressions.

The four candidates for the leadership of left-wing SYRIZA took part Wednesday in a debate largely devoid of drama on state TV ERT.

Everything That Happened in the Debate: Renationalizations, Prostitutes, and Sharp Words About Kasselakis

The debate among Apostolos Gletsos, Pavlos Polakis, Sokratis Famellos, and Nikolas Farantouris, candidates for the presidency of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, unfolded as a largely lackluster event. It lacked strong programmatic proposals or groundbreaking ideas.

Stefanos Kasselakis has announced that the founding declaration and name of his new political party will be announced at noon on Saturday.

In a video posted on social media, the ousted former SYRIZA leader invited supporters to register online on the todikomaskinima.gr site as members of the organization and to have a say in picking the new party name.

Ahead of a televised debate between the four candidates for the top job in SYRIZA, a fresh row has broken out between the main opposition party and its ousted former leader Stefanos Kasselakis over comments he made regarding Alexis Tsipras' holding and handing of the 2015 referendum.

Tonight, the internal debate within SYRIZA Progressive Alliance will take place on ERT’s frequency, as the four presidential candidates of the opposition party—Apostolos Gletsos, Pavlos Polakis, Sokratis Famellos, and Nikola Farandouris—will face off at 8 PM.

Around 80-90 proposals were submitted for the name of the party that Stefanos Kasselakis intends to establish, according to him.