Since the elections, almost two dozen members of the Greek parliament have left or been removed from the parties they were elected with. As of today, 22 members of parliament float as independents.
The latest departure came this morning, when Yannis Sarakiotis dramatically announced his exit from SYRIZA on the parliamentary floor. His defection follows a cascade of exits that have reduced SYRIZA’s numbers to 28 MPs, costing the party its status as the official opposition just last week.
Remarkably, the 22 independent MPs now surpass the Communist Party’s (KKE) solid bloc of 21 members.
The beginning of reshuffle began with the break-up of the Spartiates and almost half of their MPs leaving the party. Then in December 2023, eleven MPs who left SYRIZA and announced the formation of the New Left, followed by further departures of Kasselakis supporters and others from SYRIZA over the past few weeks. Even the majority party New Democracy has lost some seats, including the one held by ousted former prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
Therefore, right now the numbers of party affiliations in the Greek parliament are as follows:
- New Democracy 155
- PASOK 31
- SYRIZA 28
- Independent 22
- The Communist Party (KKE) 21
- Hellenic Solution 11
- New Left 11
- Victory 10
- Course for Freedom 6
- Spartiates 5
After removal or personal decision, the following MPs are independent: George Aspiotis, Lefteris Avgenakis, Alexandros Avlonitis, Dionysis Valtogiannis, Michalis Gavgiotakis, Yannis Dimitrokallis, Athena Linou, Charalambos Katsivardas, Kyriaki Malama, George Manousos, Bourhan Baran, Areti Papaioannou, Petros Pappas, Yiota Poulou, Yiota Poulou, Marios Salmas, Antonis Samaras, Pavlos Sarakis, Yannis Sarakiotis, Theodora Tzakri, Konstantinos Floros, Michalis Hourdakis, Ralia Christidou.
The growing number of unaffiliated MPs could soon coalesce into new parliamentary blocs, as ten members are required to form one bloc.
