Next Thursday, barring any shocking unforeseen developments, the names of personalities who will participate in the Scientific Council of Alexis Tsipras’s Institute are expected to be announced, with approximately 30 members expected. After the publication of the names, around November 24, the former prime minister’s book “ITHACA” will be presented, while from the new year Alexis Tsipras will begin his tours throughout Greece. From Amalias Street – where the former prime minister’s headquarters is located – however, there was no reaction regarding the decision made by SYRIZA’s Political Secretariat.
What SYRIZA officials say about the treatment of Alexis Tsipras – The “Avgi” article that wanted to “explain” Famellos’s line
Officials familiar with the people and facts point out, however, that the former prime minister obviously understands the difficult position in which Koumoundourou officials and Socrates Famellos find themselves. Because, however, the Political Secretariat’s decision brought many discussions, SYRIZA officials clarified that this is not about alignment, as initially given the impression, but about convergence of views, an aspect included in the SYRIZA president’s proposal for cooperation with all parties of the progressive space.
It is characteristic that an anonymous article in the Avgi newspaper titled “Communication tricks” clarified things from the president’s side: “No one decided on some tactical change, some submission to developments, nor did Socrates Famellos say or show that he is being dragged behind events or whatever the former SYRIZA leader might possibly do… The consistent position of SYRIZA-P.S. and its president is the unity of progressive forces, the possibility of finding common ground for cooperation. Nothing changed, nothing was added or removed.” Commenting, indeed, on Pavlos Polakis’s stance, the author points out that Polakis’s disagreement does not change the climate, as the Chania MP “evaluates developments differently”.
Divergence of views in New Left
The clarifications were deemed necessary from the moment the impression given is that, despite the fact that Alexis Tsipras said the SYRIZA period was closed for him, his former comrades are trying to “hang on” to his wagon again. Meanwhile, on the other front of New Left, things are particularly difficult. It is characteristic that at last Thursday’s Political Secretariat meeting, two different views were expressed on the issue of cooperation.
On one side is Alexis Charitsis’s proposal for cooperation “without exclusions” and without privileged interlocutors, which includes both SYRIZA and PASOK, and obviously the potential Tsipras party. This proposal is supported by Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, Efi Achtsioglou, Nasos Iliopoulos, Theano Fotiou, Meropi Tzoufi, Hussein Zeybek and Ferhat Ozgur. On the other side is the proposal by New Left secretary Gabriel Sakellaridis for cooperation with the radical left, namely MeRA25, KKE, left-wing organizations. This proposal is rejective of any undertaking by Alexis Tsipras. The “Umbrella” aligns with Sakellaridis’s side and, at the MP level, Euclid Tsakalotos and Peti Perka. Thodoros Dritsas is considered close to this approach, while Sia Anagnostopoulou reportedly wavers.
Published in Apogeumatini newspaper
