Veteran MEP Papadimoulis joins defecting SYRIZA MPs
European Parliament Vice-President Dimitris Papadimoulis said Sunday he will represent in that assembly the new Parliamentary group created by 11 MPs who defected from the main opposition SYRIZA party.
“Wanting to be consistent with my course inside the Left, I chose to support the party under formation and the new parliamentary group which will complete its formation Monday,” Papadimoulis told TV station ANT1.
“It is obvious that I will represent the group in the European Parliament for the few remaining months, since I have declared years ago that my current, third term will be the final one,” Papadimoulis, 68, added.
He said that, by changing party affiliation, he will “not deviate in the least” from the program on the basis of which he was elected in 2019. He will continue to caucus with GUE/NGL, the Europealiament’s left-wing group.
Papadimouklis noted that he will not be the only MEP elected with SYRIZA to follow this path.
Of the six MEP’s elected with SYRIZA in 2019, three (Papadimoulis, Petros Kokkalis and Stelios Kouloglou) have quit the party. A fourth, Alexis Georgoulis, has been an independent MEP since he was expelled from SYRIZA on April 17, 2023, when Belgian authorities demanded the lifting of his parliamentary immunity over accusations of rape and abuse.
“I am one of the founders of the Coalition of the Left and SYRIZA. My decision to quit the party is difficult. But it is a responsible decision, since this party, under its new leadership, is rapidly drifting away from what we got to know as SYRIZA under the Tsipras leadership. I think it’s being degraded, as far as reliability, cohesion and seriousness are concerned,” Papadimoulis said.
“Under the leadership of Stefanos Kasselakis, SYRIZA is becoming disreputable. It’s not just the continued slide in opinion polls,” he added, predicting more people quitting SYRIZA soon.
Asked about Tsipras’ silence over the recent developments, Papadimoulis says he respects it, but believes Tsipras cannot be satisfied.
