"Syriza, the great circus" - this is the headline of the right-wing Prototema newspaper, and the liberal Real News daily wrote: this is the end of Syriza's rule.
The new crisis began on 8 November at the opening of the congress of the left-wing Syriza party, which was to determine the candidates for the forthcoming elections and appoint a new party leader. During the forum there were scenes of chaos and heated arguments between supporters of Stefanos Kaselakis and his critics, members of the other faction.
Stefanos Kaselakis, who was appointed party leader in September 2023, was barred from standing for re-election in the internal elections, on November 24 and December 1 last year and in October. The situation has deteriorated in recent months, with many party members openly criticizing his methods of governance.
At the congress, the former financial analyst at Goldman Sachs accused some party members of preventing his supporters from attending the rally in Gazi, in central Athens. This action, which he considers undemocratic, provoked his anger. So the next day he announced his intention to set up his own movement. "Today is a happy day because a democratic, progressive movement is being created, made up of free citizens," he told a crowd of activists. "We are an extension of the democratic Syriza. We are creating an open party that will embrace the whole progressive world," he added, inviting other parties from the center-left or even the center-right to join him.
This initiative was strongly criticized by Syriza, which accused him of wanting to "make the party lose its position as an opposition force". "Stefanos Kaselakis already bears the marks of apostasy and the behavior of a man who has lost and left," the statement said. The split could deal a further blow to the left-wing party, which has been in chaos for months.
The departure of former prime minister Alexis Tsipras after Syriza's defeat in the 2023 parliamentary elections led to the appointment of Stefanos Kaselakis three months later. The 35-year-old entrepreneur, the first politician to openly declare his homosexuality, won over some on the left and was elected in a surprise landslide. But as soon as he was elected, the former businessman, who has lived most of his adult life in the United States, was criticized for his social media style, his lack of political experience and his desire to reorient the party and build bridges with other political groupings.
Back in December 2023, several dissidents, including former ministers and heavyweights, announced their intention to leave the party and form an independent group in parliament, Nea Aristera (New Left). In just a few months, Syriza, which continues to fall in opinion polls, has reduced its parliamentary group from 47 of the 300 deputies elected in June 2023 to 32, one more than the socialist Pasok party.
While four candidates - Sokratis Famelos, Pavlos Polakis, Nikolos Farantouris and Apostolos Gletsos - were formally confirmed as party leaders at this weekend's congress, four other Syriza MPs responded to Stefanos Kaselakis' call and announced they would join his new movement. If further defections follow in the coming days, as some MPs have hinted, the left-wing party that was in power between 2015 and 2019 will no longer be the main opposition party. Regardless of who is elected to lead it in the coming weeks, the new leader's task will be to prevent the party from completely disintegrating. I BGNES