With reversals in decisions and a change in leadership, SYRIZA is attempting to ensure the party’s (initial) and electoral (subsequently) survival of the party, while PASOK is setting its sights on “correcting” its electoral goal (“coming in first in the elections”) and engaging in behind-the-scenes maneuvers for electoral “defections” to counter its poll numbers.The founding of ELAS by Alexis Tsipras continues to cause turmoil among neighboring parties, as they await the new opinion polls set to be released starting today. According to reports, these polls continue to show ELAS as the second-largest party, trailing far behind PASOK, but also show SYRIZA losing ground given the recent decision by its Central Committee (which was a proposal by Socrates Famellos) that the party will not run in the elections in direct opposition to Mr. Tsipras’s party.
The (until yesterday?) minority within the party’s leadership is striving to overturn this decision, as even members of the majority are reacting against the prospect of the party’s dissolution.
It is telling that even the new press secretary, Christos Giannoulis, described Tsipras’s refusal yesterday as “excessive” regarding a coordinated electoral alliance between ELAS and SYRIZA.
The Polakis-Dourou-Pappas faction, after submitting the required signatures for a new session of the Central Committee (most likely on July 11) in order to overturn the previous decision, is preparing to raise the issue of leadership as well, since, as more and more party officials admit, Mr. Famellos can no longer lead a party whose governing body questions his leadership—if, in the end, his own line is overturned.
As they have hinted, they will propose a new, “collective leadership,” arguing that the current circumstances are not conducive to holding an extraordinary convention and electing a new president by the rank-and-file.
Even with collective leadership, of course, the group will have to agree on a person to lead the parliamentary group as SYRIZA’s political leader; however, no such decision (among themselves) has been made.
Developments in the Central Committee will be shaped by the new power dynamics within the body, as many of its members—who have reportedly already quietly left to join ELAS—are said to have departed.
A telling example is yesterday’s departure of Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, who voted in favor of Famellos’s proposal at the previous Central Committee meeting; however, in light of its rejection, she stated that she can no longer remain in the party. “I cannot conceive of a SYRIZA ballot running against Alexis Tsipras and the Hellenic Police,” she emphasized in her resignation statement…
As we have noted, the interesting aspect among the party officials who want SYRIZA to participate in the elections is the openness toward PASOK: some speak of post-election cooperation (to attract left-wing voters who want such a development and do not favor ELAS), while others do not rule out even pre-election cooperation, if the polls continue to show an independent SYRIZA outside Parliament.
PASOK: Seeking Alliances à la Tzakri
Within PASOK, all possibilities appear to be under discussion, although it is considered certain that a pre-election alliance would cause an uproar among party officials interested in more “centrist” or “center-right” directions.
This faction views even the recruitment of Theodora Tzakri with …disapproval; as has been reported many times, the leadership desires her due to the electoral influence she consistently wields in Pella.
The fact that Ms. Tzakri was a PASOK member of parliament (and deputy minister), then joined SYRIZA, and subsequently joined Stefanos Kasselakis’s party—from which she resigned the day before yesterday—is viewed by many party officials (even “center-left” in orientation) as a negative factor that “will not add to but will detract from PASOK’s electoral prospects.”
Even more negative is the alleged maneuver to have Ms. Tzakri run as an associate of the party rather than as a member, in order to avoid the “term limit” decided by the recent convention. (Editor’s note: the limit is 20 years in Parliament, while she has already served 22.)
After all, it was because of this “term limit” that Haris Kastanidis left the party, so H. Trikouis will not easily be able to avoid accusations of “double standards.”
One idea that has been put on the table is to create a “coalition” of candidates with PASOK, including “PASOK-affiliated” figures who had joined SYRIZA and are now on the outside (such as, in addition to Ms. Tzakri, Thanos Moraitis), as well as “SYRIZA members” who do not want to remain in SYRIZA nor move to ELAS.
In this case, according to supporters of this scenario, the “cut-off” would be excluded from the entire coalition framework, and it would not appear that an exception is being made solely for Ms. Tzachri.
Alongside all of the above, a way is being sought to shift the goal of becoming “the leading party in the elections” without making it look like an undignified retreat in the face of the polls.
PASOK official Christos Kaklamanis has begun laying the groundwork (““The goal of coming in first in the elections has become more difficult; let’s not kid ourselves” and “we set that goal before Mr. Tsipras appeared”), while MP Nadia Giannakopoulou also expressed concerns about the “first-place” goal.