Kasselakis, a leader without a party
SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis appears to be increasingly isolated as criticism of his leadership is not only coming from opponents within the party, but also from those who had until recently backed him.
Kasselakis had distributed a questionnaire on SYRIZA’s online platform iSYRIZA over the weekend, seeking party members’ assessment of the party’s identity, logo and name. Party officials reacted strongly to Kasselakis’ initiative, expressing uncertainty about the purpose of the upcoming party congress.
“I am in a very difficult position because I had supported him,” senior member Pavlos Polakis is reported to have said during the six-hour meeting of the political secretariat on Monday, reflecting the prevalent mood against Kasselakis, who is under fire for the party’s identity crisis.
What became clear from the meeting was that there is no longer any concrete supportive bloc for him among senior ranking officials of the party.
Indeed, criticism came from the “strategist” of the victory of the internal party elections that brought Kasselakis to the helm, Nikos Pappas, as well as other influential figures like the head of SYRIZA’s parliamentary group, Giorgos Tsipras, who reportedly bemoaned that the party has not functioned politically since he came to power.
As a result, the party is now in uncharted waters given that the political secretariat, in an unprecedented move, has taken a stand against its president.
The meeting on Monday was inconclusive as Kasselakis was in London and a new one has been scheduled for Tuesday.
For his part, Kasselakis, responded to the cadres opposing the questionnaire.
“The results of this questionnaire will not be made public. We are not a polling company. But it will be a useful tool for the SYRIZA organs and for me in our decisions,” he said.
