One puzzle that SYRIZA will need to solve in the coming days is who will represent the party at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) — a question that only confirms the absence of a clear decision-making center and the party’s struggle to chart a unified strategy. It may become clear within the week whether Rena Dourou will attend alone, or whether SYRIZA will head to Thessaloniki as a trio, with Nikos Pappas and Pavlos Polakis by her side.
The scenarios on the table
There are, of course, other scenarios regarding who will take on the responsibility of giving the customary press conference and delivering the keynote address to the country’s productive sector representatives. Some suggest it could be two figures — with Rena Dourou, as parliamentary group leader, and Nikos Pappas, as economics and development spokesperson, in mind — while the party’s press representative, Dimitris Melidis, has hinted at a surprise name.
While these scenarios reveal that SYRIZA’s headquarters at Koumoundourou still has many organizational issues to resolve, it is worth recalling that back in 2024, when similar problems threatened to leave the party’s TIF presence up in the air, the Central Committee authorized Nikos Pappas — then parliamentary group leader — to be the one to travel to Thessaloniki. The matter is expected to be placed on the agenda at two separate meetings: a more closed-door session next Monday, and a Political Secretariat meeting on Tuesday.
In any case, what Koumoundourou is most concerned about regarding TIF is presenting a figure — or figures — capable of articulating SYRIZA’s positions while also creating a rift with the left-wing alliance ELAS, in order to send an open invitation to left-wing voters who have drifted away from or left the party but do not identify with Alexis Tsipras. SYRIZA’s so-called “troika,” as expressed through Rena Dourou, appears to be placing considerable emphasis on expansion — both of the parliamentary group through independent MPs, and of the party itself through new recruits and partnerships with neighboring political spaces.
Indeed, Dourou announced in a letter to SYRIZA’s MPs that contacts are currently underway with independent parliamentarians on the basis of shared political and programmatic positions. She essentially telegraphed that movement is on the horizon, expressing confidence that “in the very near future, this process will bear fruit and strengthen our parliamentary group.”
At the same time, party headquarters has been releasing figures to the public — seemingly as a show of political vitality — including the announcement that approximately 70,000 members have been verified in recent days, with the process of cleaning up membership registries still ongoing. However, the question of whether these members are genuinely active or merely dormant names on a list remains unanswered, as selective number leaks alone cannot convincingly counter the widespread perception of a mass exodus from the party.
