In the clearest possible terms, SYRIZA-PS president Sokratis Famellos posed a critical political dilemma before the party’s Central Committee, addressing members who disagree with supporting Alexis Tsipras’ initiative. “Are we standing with or against Alexis Tsipras’ endeavor? On this question, we take responsibility and leave no room for a ‘plan B’. Standing with him is the answer, standing with him as progressive citizens want. Standing with him as the left-progressive way of thinking demands,” he stated characteristically, calling on the party’s top body to take a clear position in favor of the Greek Left Alliance, while SYRIZA members below shouted “we are SYRIZA”.
The SYRIZA president argued that the establishment of the Greek Left Alliance has already created new dynamics in the progressive space, rejecting any logic of confrontation with the former prime minister’s endeavor. “The establishment of the Greek Left Alliance created great momentum and changes the balance of power, sparking citizens’ interest in progressive politics. This is a positive development, which we do not approach confrontationally under any circumstances, as that would be a strategic mistake”.
Explaining the political rationale behind his proposal, Famellos noted that such an initiative could strengthen the progressive space overall and create conditions for political change. “How else could we view confrontationally an initiative that can strengthen the progressive space’s dynamics and the prospect of defeating the right and delivering progressive governance? We know very well that in the struggle for political change, no one is expendable”.
Addressing Central Committee members, he called on the party to take a clear position, arguing that the question is already being posed by society and cannot remain unanswered. “Comrades, let’s not hide. We must take a position on a question critical to society, which is being posed spontaneously, honestly, by citizens and will multiply in the future if not answered today.” In this context, he asked the party’s top body to politically support Tsipras’ initiative and work toward building a broader progressive front. “I call on you to decide today that we stand alongside Alexis Tsipras’ initiative, we support it, we don’t view it competitively but as comrades. And in this new framework, with these new circumstances, I call on you to work for this choice”.
Simultaneously, he described the strategic goal for the coming period as a broad political convergence of forces that will be reflected in the next national elections. “Let us work and participate in a dynamic, broad convergence of wider progressive and democratic forces and collectives. This will be expressed in the next parliamentary elections. Because we know very well that this struggle against the Mitsotakis regime will be tough and requires the cooperation and osmosis of many forces for the electoral battle to be victorious”.
Concluding this section of his statement, Sokratis Famellos emphasized that the reconstruction of the progressive space must maintain the political and historical continuity of SYRIZA and the broader Left. “Our goal and my commitment is for this broad reconstruction and alliance of the progressive space, which is now underway, to express the historical political continuity of SYRIZA-PS’s legacy, the radical Left, the reformist Left and the Progressive Alliance and the Left government. And we have valuable experience from the Left’s unifying transformations”.
