Ten years ago, the radical left-wing party Syriza took power in Greece. Since its defeat in the 2023 elections, it has been in decline. There was a lot of chaos at the party’s special congress this weekend
The latest act in the drama of the declining Greek left-wing party, Syriza, took place in a nightclub in Athens. An extraordinary congress was held there on Friday (08.11.24) to pave the way for the election of the party’s new leader. The new elections were necessary after the party’s leader Stefanos Kaselakis was removed from office in early September (07.09.24) after only a year in office. But the former shipowner and banker did not want to leave so easily and wanted to run again. His supporters tried to pressure the delegates to accept his re-nomination. There were chaotic scenes as hundreds of so-called “Kaselists” tried to storm the conference venue. There were scuffles, shoving, verbal attacks and insults. In the end, the police and firefighters were called in to ensure security.
The majority of delegates rejected the Kaselists’ request and decided that Kaselakis would not run for party leader in the elections scheduled for November 24, 2024.
During his short time in office, the former Syriza leader aroused the discontent of many party members, because he was never willing to work in existing forums and put his political proposals up for discussion there. Instead, he wanted to address the people directly via TikTok, Facebook or with direct speeches on the streets. Amid the chaos at the Syriza party congress, four other candidates were officially confirmed: MPs Sokratis Famellos and Pavlos Polakis, MEP Nikolas Farantouris and actor Apostolos Gletsos. But according to observers, none of them will be able to reunite the once strong “coalition of the radical left” and bring it back to the political spotlight.
“SERVANT” OF A NEW PARTY
The deposed party leader Kaselakis then announced (09.11.24) the founding of a new party. He declared to a cheering crowd that Syriza had closed its democratic chapter and that a new force had to be born. “Today is a day of joy, because a movement of democracy, of free citizens and progress is emerging,” he said and wished those who remained in Syriza “good luck.” Kaselakis’ rally was accompanied by singer Sophia Vossou, who performed her song “It Will Be Like Spring.” The politician also presented the establishment of his new party as a spring, which according to him will be an open, progressive and independent party. “We are creating a movement from society for society,” he declared. His supporters must also decide on the name of the new party. “The party will be yours and I will be your servant,” said Kaselakis.
POPULAR SLOGANS
According to its founder, the new party should be “popular and not elitist.” It must also bring in right-wing citizens, who “may not agree with interventionism in public spending, or with our stance on many social issues, but who want this country to be a state of law, to implement reforms and respect social justice”.
FOUR LESS MANDATES
With Kaselakis, four of its 35 MPs left the Syriza parliamentary group. Thus, this opposition party now has 31 seats in the 300-seat Greek parliament, as much as the social democratic Pasok party. But it is expected that other MPs will also leave and Pasok will become the strongest opposition group. In the last parliamentary elections in June 2023, Pasok won only 11.84 percent of the vote and it did not seem that it would be able to regain its old strength as a long-standing party in government, or as a strong opposition party. Meanwhile, Pasok has somehow recovered and Syriza is fragmenting.
THE INVISIBLE ALEXIS TSIPRAS
Syriza lost the June 2023 elections dramatically, falling from 31 to 17 percent. Its leader Alexis Tsipras resigned and his successor, the US-based shipowner and banker Kaselakis, was elected out of thin air to lead the party. Since then, the party has been embroiled in bitter power struggles. In November 2023, hundreds of members left Syriza, including 11 MEPs, to form the New Left party, which failed to pass the three percent threshold in the 2024 European elections. The European elections were also a disaster for Syriza, falling below 15 percent.
This loss, combined with Kaselakis’ narcissism and his views on the economy, NATO and Israel, which are seen as far removed from those of the left-wing party, effectively programmed the new crisis and the next split.
Now the split has taken place and the situation of what was once the largest party of the European left seems to be irreparable. So what is Alexis Tsipras doing? The former party leader, who resigned after losing the elections in June 2023, has been quietly watching his party disintegrate for 15 months. He does not appear at party congresses, but allows his comrades to speak on his behalf. Like other former prime ministers in Greece, he has founded an institute that bears his name. Instead of Syriza, Tsipras now deals with the Balkans and tries to propose ideas for dealing with crises in the region in international forums. Perhaps he hopes that one day he can return to the political scene as the savior of progressive forces. (DW)
