Syriza

Former SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis has announced he is leaving the party.

Kasselakis made his decision known after the party's congress made it clear it would refuse to consider his candidacy for the leadership election to be held later this month.

He added that he will be forming a new party and will make a further announcement early Saturday afternoon.

Stefanos Kasselakis announced his departure from SYRIZA from his office in Tavros while the opposition party’s conference was taking place in Gazi.

At the same time, he informed his supporters of the creation of a new political party.

The conference of main opposition SYRIZA opened Friday in a scene of chaos and division at the Gazi Live venue in Athens, as tensions between rival factions reached a boiling point.

Supporters of ousted leader Stefanos Kasselakis, gathered in protest since early afternoon, claimed that many delegates were deliberately excluded, signaling a possible party split.

The mood remains tense in the ranks of SYRIZA, with Kasselistas flocking outside Gazi Live, where the extraordinary congress begins today.

A few hundred people gathered outside the Gazi venue in central Athens on Friday ahead of the SYRIZA party congress, set to begin at 6.30 p.m., amid tensions over the congress's delegate composition.

UPDATE:

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Stefanos Kasselakis is asking his supporters to be outside the conference area on Friday afternoon (8/11),  Syriza delegates to be calm and not to respond to provocations.

Just hours before SYRIZA's extraordinary congress, which could determine the future of the deeply divided opposition, former president Stefanos Kasselakis hinted at the possibility of forming a new party if he fails to regain control.

PASOK is carefully navigating shifting political dynamics on its left, as SYRIZA and its splinter group, the New Left, hold their respective conferences, all while confronting a dual offensive from the right.

Today’s emergency SYRIZA Progressive Alliance Conference, held at “Gazi Live” from 6:30 PM, is anticipated to be anything but celebratory as internal divisions are set to escalate. Delegates from both the majority and the “Kasselistas” (supporters of Stefanos Kasselakis) faction are gathering as early as noon.

It is fair to say that most, if not all of us are following the current SYRIZA saga with some interest. Some of us are more interested than others either because we support or oppose the party, others are interested in the personalities involved; in any case the interest is high.