Voices are growing louder calling for Alexis Charitsis to resign from the leadership of New Left, given that he neither controls his party nor agrees with the majority’s decisions. Considering that the majority of his party’s parliamentary group wants cooperation with SYRIZA, New Left officials claim that Alexis Charitsis should expedite developments as soon as possible.
Internal conflicts in New Left: Tsipras’s role and Charitsis’s future
Specifically, 9 out of 12 New Left MPs believe the party should proceed with cooperation scenarios involving SYRIZA and potentially the party that Alexis Tsipras will create. Alexis Charitsis, Sia Anagnostopoulou, Efi Achtsioglou, Hussein Zeybek, Nasos Iliopoulos, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, Meropi Tzoufi, Ozgur Ferhat, and Theano Fotiou align with the New Left president’s position. Additionally, three Political Bureau members – Maria Vamvoureli, Kostis Karpozilos, and Nikos Bistis – share the same view.
However, former Umbrella officials Euclid Tsakalotos and Panos Skourletis appear to align with New Left Secretary Gabriel Sakellaridis, who argues in a statement that “without a strong, radical, united Left, no progressive or anti-neoliberal front can prove effective against the regime of inequality, authoritarian governance, and ideological hegemony of elites“.
This statement was signed by 14 Political Bureau members of New Left, specifically Eleftheria Angeli, Evi Apostolaki, Maria Giannakaki, Efi Kalamara, Petros Kalkandis, Vasiliki Katrivanou, Katerina Knitou, Makrina Viola Kosti, Panos Lambrou, Charis Matsouka, Gabriel Sakellaridis, Panos Skourletis, Euclid Tsakalotos, and Giannis Tsilikas. In reality, this faction distances itself from Alexis Tsipras’s potential venture, looking toward Yanis Varoufakis’s side.
Famellos’s call
Meanwhile, Socrates Famellos appeared on Tuesday calling his former comrades to unite in the common effort to bring down the Mitsotakis government. “I consider it my political duty and responsibility to do everything possible for political change in the country“, stated the SYRIZA president, adding: “Let’s sit at the same table and agree. Let’s overcome the obstacle of refusals, delays, and procrastination. Procrastination undermines collaborations. We insist on cooperation because that’s what society wants. We can contribute substantially! We have no party selfishness. Above all for us are society’s interests“.
