The rush of Pavlos Polakis to put forward his candidacy for the future direction of SYRIZA appears to be complicating developments rather than offering a way out of the deadlock gripping the party’s headquarters. Tellingly, his potential allies, Nikos Pappas and Rena Dourou, have been caught completely off guard by the Chania MP’s move to declare himself available for the party leadership.
SYRIZA: How Polakis blindsided Nikos Pappas and Rena Dourou
This is because on Tuesday morning, the three figures currently representing the minority faction within SYRIZA — Polakis, Pappas, and Dourou — had already spoken and reached an agreement. Their understanding was that, leading up to the Central Committee meeting, they would operate on the basis of rebuilding the party so it could contest the upcoming elections. In short, their plan was to pressure party leader Socrates Famellos to clarify his position, after which an Electoral Campaign Committee and a Programme Committee would be formed.
These figures had deliberately avoided entering into any discussion about whether Socrates Famellos should resign, as they appear to hold differing views on the matter. Two of the three believe that aggressively challenging the SYRIZA leader at this particular moment could backfire, potentially rallying a significant number of party members around him.
Nikos Pappas, therefore, believes that what is needed is a collective leadership — one capable of negotiating with other parties in the progressive political space over the possibility of fielding a unified front in the elections. Clearly, the MP for the Southern Athens constituency, knowing full well that both Pavlos Polakis and Rena Dourou are eyeing the party leadership, has no desire to enter into yet another divisive internal confrontation. The situation is made even more complicated by reports that SYRIZA MEP Kostas Arvanitis may also be considering throwing his hat into the ring.
Pavlos Polakis: The demand for Socrates Famellos to resign
Nevertheless, Pavlos Polakis took to social media on Tuesday to publicly call for the “immediate resignation of Socrates Famellos and the election of a new presidium of the SYRIZA parliamentary group,” while also laying out four steps he argues must be taken “following the collapse of the narrative and strategy of the party leader and his inner leadership circle regarding cooperation among progressive forces — and specifically regarding SYRIZA-PS’s unconditional support for ELAS.” His demands are as follows: “Immediate return to the SYRIZA parliamentary group, immediate resignation of Famellos and election of a new parliamentary group leader, immediate convening of the Central Committee, and the immediate launch of talks with neighbouring political forces and personalities who want to believe in the formation of a broader progressive front.” His call for cross-party cooperation targets New Left, Nikos Kotzias and PRATTO, Louka Katseli, and — according to some sources — even forces aligned with MeRA25.
Socrates Famellos: What he told SYRIZA’s Executive Secretariat
For his part, Socrates Famellos remained tight-lipped during Tuesday’s Executive Secretariat meeting, which convened to confirm the upcoming Central Committee session. Despite criticising the statements made by members of the Greek Left Alliance (ELAS), he stopped short of revealing his hand, noting only that “to date, dismissive comments and a refusal to cooperate and converge have been recorded on the part of ELAS.” He further added that SYRIZA “is not shutting up shop or suspending its operations — on the contrary, our interventions are taking on great importance in allowing popular opposition to find expression in the next elections.” Notably, however, he stopped short of confirming that the party would actually contest those elections.
