Yes to digital consultation, internal referendums
The leader of the leftist opposition talks about the changes to the party charter, relations with other parties and his assets in the US
In an interview with Kathimerini, SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis criticizes PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis for having a “complementary logic” to the ruling conservatives of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and declares that he is ready to sit at the same table with other progressive parties, as long as they respect the role of the main opposition.
He appears confident and optimistic that his party will win back voters, despite the fact that polls so far are not in pointing in that direction. He also rejects scenarios that cast his leadership into doubt if the European Parliament elections go badly for SYRIZA, adding that he is already looking ahead to the 2027 national polls.
Kasselakis insists on an “unmediated” relationship with the party base, saying that he is in favor of all members expressing their opinion through “digital consultation and referendums.” Responding to questions about his company in the United States, he says that any audit is welcome, but added that judicial authorities should “investigate everything” and not be “selective.”
Do you feel that “phenomena of self-interest, narcissism, violation of the principles of collectivity and comradeship have paralyzed the party organization” of SYRIZA, as your predecessor, Alexis Tsipras, stated last month?
It is precisely these afflictions that have cost SYRIZA dearly, leading it to a loss of credibility and thus to a loss of confidence in a large part of the progressive world. With painful consequences, whether we are talking about the result of the national elections or our performance in the polls until recently. With the conclusion of our congress, the party members set the tone and decisively showed the direction for the coming period: unity, trust among ourselves and the fight for a progressive counterattack, with the European elections as the first step. I am committed to this goal and I am determined for us to achieve it, united.
You recently said that SYRIZA will far exceed the percentage of votes it received in the last national elections. If the polls are confirmed and this goal is not reached, what will you do? Will you not ask for another vote of confidence from the party?
The decision of our congress is clear: “The Congress reaffirms its confidence in President Stefanos Kasselakis and instructs the president and the party bodies to face the next political and electoral battles united, starting with the European elections, with a unified political function, all committed by our Statute and Declaration to the interests of society and the country.” This is our common goal and we will achieve it by sending a message of SYRIZA’s full comeback as a leading force and counterweight to Mitsotakis’ Right.
You have talked about holding a party congress to reinvent SYRIZA after the European elections. What changes do you have in mind?
Our forthcoming congress will indeed have a transformative character. The changes we will make will be based on the consultation process that has already begun with the members and friends of SYRIZA. My goal is to build a party that is attractive to every progressive citizen, especially young people, that is open and guarantees the expression of all its members’ opinions through digital consultation and referendums. A party with a regional composition and decentralized operations. A party that will continuously produce applicable proposals and legislative initiatives to directly improve the lives of citizens. A party with a functional structure and quick reflexes that will play a leading role in Parliament and in social movements. A SYRIZA that will be able to reclaim the governance of the country with the aim of bringing prosperity to society and establishing the rule of law.
‘We cannot wait for Androulakis to stop having a logic complementary to the Right and for the small, disruptive Left to exercise some real self-criticism of its choices’
Under what conditions would you sit at the table with ideologically similar parties? With Nikos Androulakis from PASOK, for example, to see what the prospects are for such a convergence of progressive forces. Would you also discuss forming a united opposition the members who left SYRIZA during your time, such as Alexis Haritsis and Effie Achtsioglou?
In the last few years, SYRIZA did everything it could for cooperation, even for a possible government coalition of progressive forces. We got rejection and fierce opposition from all the self-proclaimed leftist and progressive forces. These are critical times and we cannot wait for Androulakis to stop having a logic complementary to the Right and for the small, disruptive Left to exercise some real self-criticism of its choices. We are moving step by step toward the formation of a great social alliance with all the vibrant forces of society that want to free the country from the right-wing policies of [Prime Minister Kyriakos] Mitsotakis together. The table of dialogue is always available, as long as there is the necessary respect for the role of SYRIZA and the necessary agreement that we are fighting against the Right without ambiguities and quid pro quos.
What will be SYRIZA’s slogan for the European elections? How do you aim to convince people to vote for you?
Our goal in the run-up to the European elections is to implement our congress slogan to launch a great, progressive counterattack. We are currently finalizing our European declaration and preparing our first main event for the European elections. Our campaign and slogans will summarize our strategy for a democratic, social Europe and for the counterattack of progressive forces against the neoliberal Right and the dramatic rise of the far-right. We will show our citizens a comprehensive plan for Greece as a modern European state, but also for overcoming the structural identity crisis of the European Union. And we will invite them to participate en masse in the European elections, because they may not elect a government, but they will determine the European policies that will have a direct impact on their daily lives for the next five years.
Will you keep some of the seats on the European election ticket for candidates that you will choose yourself, or will everyone participate in the internal party referendum to complete the list?
I have stated that it is my wish and intention that all candidates, except for our current MEPs, will emerge through primaries. The collective bodies of SYRIZA will decide on the details. We have repeatedly stated that SYRIZA is changing. We will be the first party in Greece to introduce this system, which will give its members and friends a practical say even in this most important procedure, which is the nomination of candidates for the European elections.
Would you say that the former SYRIZA government’s handling of the Novartis bribery case and the auction for TV broadcasting licenses was “unfortunate”?
The SYRIZA government was called upon to confront the extensive corruption of the old two-party system and the coalition governments of New Democracy and PASOK. Greece played a leading role in the international Novartis scandal and any involvement of former government officials had to be investigated at all cost. I remind you that Novartis Hellas and its parent company were forced to pay $225 million and $112 million, respectively, to the US Treasury to avoid further criminal and financial sanctions in the US for the Greek part of the scandal. This in itself says a lot.
Similarly, in the case of the TV licenses, SYRIZA was called upon to bring order and protect the public interest in a market that had been unregulated for decades. SYRIZA’s policy on broadcasting licenses brought revenues to the public coffers that were later taken from the Greek people by New Democracy under the pretext of the [Covid-19] pandemic, while at the same time it was donating millions of euros of public money with the infamous Petsas lists [handouts], etc. In both cases, the SYRIZA government was on the side of justice, transparency and the public interest. That is the big picture.
You railed against the prosecutors who launched an investigation into your finances. However, the law does not allow party leaders to hold shares in companies based abroad. What do you intend to do to remedy this situation, regardless of the actions of the judiciary?
Everyone knows who I am and what I have done in my life. I have been very open about everything from the moment I arrived in Greece and I have never hidden my professional career or the fact that I have a fortune that I created from scratch, including Osios LLC, a completely legal company based in the US and taxed to the last dollar with a very high tax rate. Also, everyone knows that when I came to Greece last April, I did not come with the intention of becoming the leader of SYRIZA, nor did I come with the intention of staying in the country for more than a few months. I came as an expatriate who really cares about his country and I tried to help Alexis Tsipras against a system that not only does not work for the good of our country, but instead destroys and exploits it only for its own benefit at every opportunity. I decided to run for the leadership of SYRIZA because I wanted to address the afflictions of the system. After I was elected and the party members gave me the mandate to fight to change the political regime, it was clear that my life in the US was now over and I would live in Greece forever. This decision also applies to my business activities. I have nothing to hide and, as I have said many times, nobody controls me. Any investigation is welcome. Personally, I very much want justice to do its job, undistracted. But it should do it in all cases and not selectively. It should investigate everything, with the same zeal and the same speed.
