Syriza under Kasselakis: Greece’s left is dismantling itself

The new Syriza leader emerged as a beacon of hope. But the ex-banker Kasselakis fails to unite the party. Just two months after he took office, it split further.

There are rumblings in Greece’s left-wing Syriza party. The big bang came on Thursday: nine MPs announced their resignation, including former Labor Minister Effie Achtsioglou and former Interior Minister Alexis Xaritsis. They are leaving for political, ideological and democratic reasons, said Xaritis, without being more specific.

The resignations hit the party particularly hard. It now has 36 in the 300-seat parliament. Syriza is now only slightly ahead of the social democratic PASOK – its status as the strongest opposition force is under threat. Recently, numerous other members had already left Syriza.

Syriza in polls at ten percent

The party, which led the government with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras between 2015 and 2019, has fallen to around ten percent in the latest surveys.

There was great hope among many party members that the new party leader Stefanos Kasselakis could bring the party forward again after the poor parliamentary elections – at the latest by the European elections next year.

The unknown Investment banker

To understand the wave of resignations from Syriza, you have to look back two months. At the end of September, a hitherto largely unknown person toured Greece with a broad smile and promoted himself as the new party leader on social media.

Stefanos Kasselakis is 35 years old, lived in the USA for a long time and became a millionaire as an investment banker and shipping owner, according to the Greek media. Then he was discovered as a possible successor by ex-Syriza leader Tsipras. Kasselakis is gay, lives in a registered partnership and wants a child via surrogacy.

Kasselakis openly admitted in a YouTube video that he was aware that he had no party experience. But he has a human agenda and experience “at work and in social life.” Kasselakis promised things that were consistent with party values. For example, better health care and more education for everyone, or fewer privileges for politicians.

“Instrument for capital and entrepreneurs”

56 percent of members voted for Kasselakis as the new party leader and not for the former labor minister Achtsioglou. They see in him the chance to find their way back to their old strength.

Another, almost as large, said they were too inexperienced politically. His past as a banker at Goldman Sachs angered many. Kasselakis appeared to have purified himself and said that he had experienced how capital bought labor cheaply.

But then his old newspaper columns became public, in which he called for a lower minimum wage so that Greece’s economy would become more competitive. With Kasselakis, Syriza is turning into an “instrument for capital and entrepreneurs,” writes some of those who have now left the party.

A new left-wing party?

Kasselakis’ spokeswoman Dora Avyeri disagrees. She accuses his critics of not having any substantive arguments, but of simply not wanting to accept Kasselakis’ election as party leader.

For many it is incomprehensible why these resignations occurred just two months after the election, said Avyeri. Some simply questioned the democratic decision of thousands of Syriza members from day one.

In a Facebook post, Kasselakis wrote: If he had known that Achtsioglou and many others with her would leave if she did not become party leader, then he would have given up. But it’s too late for that now. Those who left will probably soon found a new left-wing party. Things are likely to continue to go downhill for Syriza.