Stefanos Kasselakis has been elected as leader of the Syriza, Greece's main opposition party. He won 56.7 % of the votes of members in the leadership election's second round yesterday.
It is likely that Kasselakis will take the party in new directions. As we stated in our short post before the election (below), we will follow developments with great interest and will report further in due course.
Posted 25th September 2023.
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Sunday 24th September will see Syriza elect a new leader. Following the first round of voting in which just under 150,000 members took part, there will be a run-off involving the two leading candidates.
The internal election was called following the resignation of Alexis Tsipras in June. Stepping down after fifteen years at the head of the organisation, Tsipras indicated that it was time for a new cycle in leadership. The timing of his decision was promoted by the result of June's Greek general election, which the conservative New Democracy party won with 40.5% of the vote. Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left - Progressive Alliance) came second with 17.8%.
Stefanos Kasselakis and Effie Achtsioglou will contest the poll on the 24th. Kasselakis led the first round with 44.91% whilst Achtsioglou gain 36.18%. Transfers and turnout will matter.
Of the two candidates, Kasselakis is the 'newcomer'. Based in Miami, with links to the shipping industry he is not a member of the Greek parliament and appears to have won support through effective use of social media. Effie Achtsioglou is a former labour minister in the Syriza government, and continues to represent a western Athens constituency in parliament. She has called for a debate on the issues facing Greece, but as yet Stefanos Kasselakis declined. Some have suggested his approach may cause splits.
The outcome of the Syriza election will of course matter to its members, but also to the Greek left, and to the European left more generally. Democratic Left Scotland is pleased to be a partner organisation of the Party of the European Left, in which Syriza is one of the largest member parties: we will continue to watch the situation closely and with great interest.
Published 22nd September 2023.