Independent MPs are characterizing the video published yesterday by SYRIZA headquarters as a move that identifies the party’s leadership group with the so-called “Truth Group.”
The full backstory behind the video targeting independent MPs
The video features clips of some of the independent MPs making earlier statements in which they called on members who had left SYRIZA to return their parliamentary seats to the party. At the end of the video, the names of Socrates Famellos, Olga Gerovasili, Popi Tsapanidou, Giannis Sarakiotis, Dionysis Kalamatianus, Kostas Barkas, Haris Mamoulakis, Miltos Zamparas, Andreas Panagiotopolous, Calliopie Vetta, Giorgos Gavrilos, Marina Kontotoli, Alexandros Meikopolous and Giorgos Psychogios appear on screen.
What is particularly striking is that none of the MPs who have since joined PASOK — Rania Thraskia, Petros Pappas and Nikolas Farantouris — appear in the video, nor does Evangelos Apostolakis, who was notably on the national electoral list.
According to some of the independent MPs, the move was designed both to damage Alexis Tsipras politically and to crack open a door for potential cooperation with PASOK.
Gerovasili’s camp hits back
Sources close to Olga Gerovasili responded to SYRIZA’s announcement, stating that “SYRIZA is the one that left — and these people are Kasselakis’ own.” Several independent MPs also pointed out that the current SYRIZA leadership is entirely associated with Stefanos Kasselakis, given that Pavlos Polakis was the one who brought him into the party, while Nikos Pappas and Rena Dourou backed him until the very last moment.
They also reminded critics that while some were fighting to save SYRIZA, these same figures were working through back channels to support the man who ultimately destroyed the party. They further noted that after Kasselakis’ election and the mass departure of senior members to form New Left, no one thought to respond in the same manner.
As soon as SYRIZA’s self-imposed deadline from the previous week expired, the party released the video alongside an official statement which read: “From June and July 2026, a new wave of departures from the party was observed — a new type of ‘going independent’ — where, for the first time, we see MPs leaving without joining another party and without returning (in most cases) their parliamentary seats to the party, as they had committed to in writing. The MPs who chose this path are undermining not only SYRIZA-PS, but also every future party that welcomes them. From today, any party that includes these MPs on its electoral lists will carry the stigma of complicity with the unethical.”
Meanwhile, sources indicate that the majority of independent MPs are now planning to hand back their seats earlier than previously anticipated. Following the formal joining of Efi Achtsioglou and Kostas Zachariades next week, a new wave of resignations is expected after the 20th of the month. Some had intended to act even sooner, but did not want their move to be interpreted as a capitulation to SYRIZA’s pressure. As a result, from October 20 onwards and over the course of the following month, most of the independent MPs are expected to make their way to Amalias Avenue — home of the Greek Parliament — to formally hand back their seats.
