SYRIZA’s newly elected president, Socrates Famellos, declared that the party remains strong and united despite recent turmoil. “SYRIZA is here and it is standing,” said Famellos in his victory speech.
In his first remarks after the leadership election, Famellos highlighted the high voter turnout and new memberships as evidence of SYRIZA’s resilience and a collective desire to “press the reset button.” He described the day as one of joy tempered by the heavy responsibility of rebuilding the party.
Famellos takes the helm during a moment of reckoning for SYRIZA. The party has endured infighting, defections, the loss of its status as the official parliamentary opposition, and declining public support, all in the last few months.
Second place in the leadership elections was Pavlos Polakis, with 43.5% of the vote. Polakis arrived at SYRIZA headquarters on election night to congratulate Famellos, and accept his leadership. He also highlighted the elections as a positive moment for the party: “Today is a day of joy. Because despite the specific plan for the liquidation and dissolution of SYRIZA which was conceived by certain circles of the oligarchy, it failed,” he said. “The participation of the people was the best answer to all of them. It kept SYRIZA standing and is the answer to the Mitsotakian parastate.”
The other candidates in the race, Apostolos Gletsos and MEP Nikolas Farandouris, also expressed their support for Famellos. Farandouris, who garnered 5.09% of the vote, committed to working alongside the new president in both Greece and Europe. Gletsos, who received 1.99%, also congratulated Famellos.
A total of 70,152 party members participated in the intraparty elections. However, some members of parliament ostentatiously abstained, disagreeing with the party’s recent decisions which have involved ousting former president Stephanos Kasselakis and preventing him from running for reelection. These divisions, alongside SYRIZA’s struggle to regain its footing in the polls, will be massive challenges ahead for Famellos.
Socrates Famellos was a founding member of SYRIZA, and has focused on different environmental issues in his work. A chemical engineer and environmental planner, has been a SYRIZA Member of Parliament from Thessaloniki since 2015, and served as Alternate Minister of Environment & Energy in 2016.
Famellos looked to project a positive future for SYRIZA in his speech. “Today’s elections are an answer to those who doubted [SYRIZA’s] next day,” he said. “We know what responsibilities we have. That is why we are not celebrating. We rejoice and we are fully aware of the great work ahead of us.”
