Nikos Filis

Former minister Nikos Filis resurfaces allegations against Freddy Beleri

"Umbrella," the left-wing faction of the main opposition SYRIZA party, led by former Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, has officially announced it has quit the party.

Main opposition SYRIZA has been plunged into turmoil again, after the proposal by its leader Stefanos Kasselakis to hold a referendum about the expulsion of prominent dissenters from the party appears to have backfired as senior figures that had so far backed him expressed their disagreement.

Top officials and hundreds of members of the main opposition party published a document on Thursday in which they raised further concerns about the direction SYRIZA has taken since the elections of its new leader, Stefanos Kasselakis, as turmoil within the party continues to brew. 

A day after being expelled from SYRIZA, Nikos Filis, a former education minister, launched an attack on the new leader of the leftist opposition party, Stefanos Kasselakis, drawing a parallel between him and former US President Donald Trump.

Three leading members of main opposition SYRIZA have said the party is facing a "very serious crisis" and have called for an immediate meeting of the party's political secretariat.

Three senior members of the main opposition have slammed an overnight decision by SYRIZA's new leader to expel them for openly criticising his views, saying that it is up to the party's ethics committee to push out members.

SYRIZA has endorsed Costas Zachariadis as its candidate for Athens mayor in the upcoming local government elections on October 8, the party's Political Secretariat said on Thursday.

The decision was between Zachariadis and Nikos Filis, the former minister of education, after the secretariat decided not to back former basketball player Nikos Pappas.

A tense debate is expected in Parliament on Thursday ahead of a vote on a contentious Education Ministry bill that would allow graduates of education faculties belonging to private colleges - that operate in Greece as branches of foreign universities and colleges - the right to apply for positions at Greek schools. 

Former education minister Nikos Filis criticized a ruling by the Council of State that deemed as unconstitutional reforms to religion classes at schools introduced by him and his successor in 2017.