In-fighting within main opposition SYRIZA party continued unabated on Tuesday, as some party cadres publicly demanded that deposed party leader Stefanos Kasselakis’ face the prospect of expulsion from the party.
On Tuesday, the group of 100 cadres called for Kasselakis’ expulsion with the charge that he sent a highly accusatory extra-judicial letter sent to the party’s current care-taker leadership, in which he accused certain party members of leaking his wealth and means declaration statement to the press.
The alleged leak is included in an article published by the Athens daily “Efimerida ton Syntakton”, which reported that Kasselakis’ wealth and means declaration had disparities with a previous such statement, an “inexplicable income” of 1.7 million US dollars, and did not include financial information of his husband, an American citizen.
Office holders, top bureaucrats and party leaders, among others, are legally obliged to provide such statements to tax authorities and certain institutions.
Kasselakis had submitted such a wealth and means declaration as part of his expected candidacy in an upcoming inter-party election – similar to the one he won in September 2023.
In addition to the letter, Kasselakis’ office released a statement demanding the resignation of party secretary Rania Svigou for not, as it claimed, ensuring the privacy of the candidates, while warning that the former would be “forced to seriously consider the possibility of going to court to defend his rights.”
In the extra-judicial letter – an official notification from one party to another delivered by a private bailiff – Kasselakis is reportedly referred to as the “president of SYRIZA.”
The group of 100 has reportedly given two reasons for citing a possible expulsion: first, that Kasselakis is referred to in the letter as “president of SYRIZA”, which goes against a vote by a majority of central committee members to vote in favor of a motion of censure against him; secondly, as a party member, he’s threatening legal action against his own party, which goes against the party’s regulation.
Former minister and current MP Olga Gerovassili, a sharp critic of Kasselakis, reportedly requested an immediate meeting of the SYRIZA central committee after the letter was sent, so that members of the latter may consider measures against the ousted president.
Kasselakis was removed from his position as president after a successful censure vote by the majority of the party’s central committee members last month.
The leftist party shows slumping support in all the opinion poll results released this autumn, a spiraling trend exacerbated by Kasselakis’ ouster and the emergence of at least two rival factions in the once radical party. Another bloc of MPs, former ministers and top cadres quit the party a year ago after Kasselakis, a political unknown in Greece up until then, was elected. The latter formed the New Left party, which enjoys Parliament representation.
