With the approval of Famellos’s motion to support SYRIZA in Alexis Tsipras’s ELAS and for the party not to run in the elections, the Central Committee meeting concluded.
Conversely, the amendment proposed by Polakis, Dourou, and Pappas calling for participation in the elections and against the party’s effective dissolution was rejected.
This development, confirming the information we reported this morning, indicates that SYRIZA will formally remain a party and its dissolution will occur “by default,” since it will not participate in the elections. This does not mean, however, that the majority will not attempt to make clearer decisions regarding its… non-future after the summer.
“Let’s not beat around the bush; we must take a stand on the question: are we for or against Alexis Tsipras’s project?” With these words, Socrates Famellos posed the dilemma to SYRIZA’s Central Committee, which is meeting today to discuss the party’s future (and what kind of future…).
He himself gave the expected answer: “Beside him. Because that is the progressive way of thinking,” he said, having earlier elaborated on the position made known yesterday that Mr. Tsipras’s ELAS should be supported in the elections and that there should be no opposing ballot.
“Our citizens are telling us, ‘Find a way to get rid of them’ (i.e., the Mitsotakis government), and SYRIZA, in all its decisions, has committed to doing everything possible for the unity and reconstruction of the progressive camp,” he noted.
He added: “The founding of the new party by Alexis Tsipras has created a new reality; ELAS has generated significant momentum and is shifting the balance of power. For the past eight months, we have said that our paths are not in opposition. I say clearly: this is a positive development that we must not treat as adversarial, which would be a strategic mistake.”
Mr. Famellos argued that the above does not constitute a breakup of SYRIZA, but rather “a coming together and convergence of progressive forces to achieve a progressive solution in the elections.”
And he again called on the party’s MPs to remain in his parliamentary group, attempting to prevent some from breaking away to side with Mr. Tsipras from now on.
“We are living through… hysterical moments” and an amendment
The slip of the tongue made by Mr. Famellos at the beginning of his speech—"we are living through hysterical moments," he said, instead of "historic"—reflects the prevailing mood within the party and, in particular, within the leadership body meeting today.
Before the meeting began, Pavlos Polakis gathered 37 signatures from members of the Central Committee supporting his own proposal (SYRIZA’s participation in the elections). However, since the body has 270 members, the proposal did not pass.