On Friday, one day before the Central Committee session of the New Left, five prominent MPs are expected to leave the party and become independent: Alexis Charitsis, Efi Achtsioglou, Nasos Iliopoulos, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, and Hussein Zeybek. These officials will leave both the New Left parliamentary group and the party itself, while sources suggest additional departures cannot be ruled out. Sia Anagnostopoulou and Theano Fotiou are among the officials considering their next moves, though reports indicate significant skepticism about whether they should leave the New Left.
Read: New Left circles on Ferhat Ozgyur’s departure: “Everyone is judged by their choices”
New Left: Impending departures before crucial Central Committee meeting amid backstage maneuvering for Tsipras’s new party
These departures are clearly connected to Tsipras’s new political venture. The five MPs will first become independent, then choose when to resign their parliamentary seats to join the former prime minister’s new party.
Sources indicate that discussions have taken place between New Left officials and representatives from Amalia Street [Tsipras’s headquarters], though no final decisions have been reached. Alexis Tsipras maintains that any MP wishing to join his movement must resign from Parliament.
When Efi Achtsioglou was asked about Alexis Tsipras’s new initiative recently, she stated: “I am present and dedicated to the struggle for overthrowing the right-wing government and implementing alternative policies, a struggle that, as I previously mentioned, requires unity and alliance of the broader Left and progressive citizens. Alexis Tsipras objectively plays the leading role in this battle. My parliamentary presence serves precisely this struggle and is judged daily both by myself and by citizens as to whether it serves this central goal.”
Meanwhile, New Left leader Gabriel Sakellaridis met with the Greens on Monday as part of the left-wing reconstruction that Patission Street has been discussing. He is expected to meet with other political leaders from the same political space in the coming period.
