The problems facing Elpida for Democracy are snowballing by the day, as party leader Maria Karystianou finds herself backed into a corner following a wave of mass resignations from party officials — many of whom have made pointed remarks about the party’s internal operations. In an attempt to turn the tide in her favor, Karystianou appeared on Open TV and alleged that a former party member, who had been active in Thessaloniki before recently leaving Elpida for Democracy, had been charging citizens to attend party rallies — and doing so by invoking her name.
“One individual, based in Thessaloniki, was gathering people for a fee — 20 euros — which he claimed was going to me,” Karystianou stated pointedly, while stopping short of naming the person directly.
She also called on any citizens who may have paid money under these circumstances to contact Elpida for Democracy, announcing that she intends to look into the matter and pursue the necessary legal action. She was equally quick to dismiss allegations of a lack of democratic processes within the party — a claim made by many of those who recently resigned. “I am waiting for evidence, because statements without evidence are slander. I want to hear proof,” she said meaningfully, adding: “Of those 22 who resigned, I didn’t even know more than half of them.”
Karystianou went on to allege that her party has repeatedly fallen victim to “intellectual theft,” explaining that the party’s full policy platform will be unveiled closer to the elections. She cited the founding declaration of Elpida for Democracy as a prime example, claiming she later discovered sections of it had been copied into Alexis Tsipras’s own founding declaration. “Our detailed program will be announced shortly before the elections, because, as you have seen, we have repeatedly had our program stolen. Our founding declaration was subsequently seen copy-pasted into Mr. Tsipras’s founding declaration,” Karystianou stated.
Originally published in Apogeumatini
