With reversals in decisions and change of leadership they are attempting in SYRIZA to secure the party’s (initially) and electoral (subsequently) survival of the formation, at a time when in PASOK they are setting course toward “correction” of the electoral goal (“coming first in the elections”) and engaging in underground processes for electoral “transfers” to address its polling image.The founding of ELAS by Alexis Tsipras continues to cause turmoil in the neighboring parties, pending the new polls that will begin to be presented from today. Which, according to information, continue to show ELAS as the second party at a great distance from PASOK, but also SYRIZA shedding support given the recent decision of its Central Committee (which was a proposal by Sokratis Famellos) that the party will not run in the elections in opposition to Mr. Tsipras’s party.
This decision the (until yesterday?) minority in Koumoundourou’s leadership body is striving to overturn, as even members of the majority are reacting to the prospect of the party’s dissolution.
It is indicative that even the new press representative Christos Giannoulis yesterday described “Tsipras’s refusal as excessive” regarding an orderly electoral cooperation of ELAS with SYRIZA.
The Polakis-Dourou-Pappas group, after submitting the required signatures for a new session of the Central Committee (most likely on July 11) in order to cancel the previous decision, is preparing to also raise a leadership issue, since, as more and more executives admit, Mr. Famellos can no longer lead a party whose leadership body questions him - if, in the end, his own line is overturned.
As they have implied, they will propose a new, “collective leadership”, with the argument that the period we are going through is not suitable for an extraordinary congress and the election of a new president by the base.
Even with collective leadership, of course, the group will have to agree on a person who will lead the parliamentary group as SYRIZA’s political leader, however no relevant decision (among themselves) has been taken.
The developments in the Central Committee will be judged by the new balances in the body, as many of its members who took the road to ELAS are said to have already departed quietly.
Indicative is yesterday’s departure of Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, who voted in favor of the Famellos proposal at the previous Central Committee, however, in view of its cancellation she stated that she can no longer remain in the party. “I cannot imagine that there could be a SYRIZA ballot opposite Alexis Tsipras and ELAS,” she stressed in the announcement of her departure…
As we have noted, the interesting element of the executives who want SYRIZA to participate in the elections is the opening toward PASOK: some speak of post-election cooperation (so as 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 autonomous SYRIZA outside Parliament.
PASOK: Seeking alliances à la Tzakri
In PASOK they seem to be discussing all possibilities, although it is considered certain that a pre-election cooperation will cause turmoil among the cadre base interested in more “centrist” or “center-right” pursuits.
This base views with a …bad eye even the transfer of Theodora Tzakri, whom, as has been written many times, the leadership desires because of the electoral influence she steadily records in Pella.
The fact that Ms. Tzakri was a PASOK MP (and deputy minister), then went to SYRIZA and then to Stefanos Kasselakis’s party from which she departed the day before yesterday, is considered by many executives (even of “center-left” classification) as a negative element that “will not add but will subtract electorally from PASOK.”
Even more negative is the alleged maneuvering for Ms. Tzakri to “run” as cooperating with the party and not as a member of it in order to escape the “term limit cutter” decided by the recent congress. (ed. note: up to 20 years of parliamentary presence, while she herself has already completed 22).
Because of this “cutter,” after all, Haris Kastanidis left the party, so Charilaou Trikoupi will not be able to easily avoid the accusation of “double standards.”
One idea that has been put on the “green” table is for a “scheme of cooperating” candidates with PASOK to be created, with “PASOK-origin” figures who had gone to SYRIZA and are now out (such as, besides Ms. Tzakri, Thanos Moraitis), but also “SYRIZA members” who do not want to remain in SYRIZA nor move to ELAS.
In this case, according to the supporters of the scenario, the “cutter” will be exempted from the entire scheme of cooperating figures and it will not appear that an exception is being made only for Ms. Tzakri.
At the same time as all the above, a way is being sought to change the goal of “first party in the elections,” without it appearing like a disorderly retreat because of the polls.
The ground began to be prepared by PASOK executive Christos Kaklamanis (“the goal of coming first in the elections has become more difficult, let’s not fool ourselves” and “we set the goal before Mr. Tsipras appeared”), while MP Nadia Giannakopoulou also appeared concerned about “first place.”