SYRIZA – Greece’s main opposition party – on Sunday suffered a split when a left-wing faction announced it was breaking away.
Umbrella, a faction led by Euclid Tsakalotos – a former Finance Minister during Syriza’s government of 2015-2019 – accuses “populist” Stefanos Kasselakis who was recently elected party leader of abandoning its core ideology.
The once-dominant party has been in disarray ever since its resounding defeat by conservative New Democracy in double elections in May and June.
Already in opposition since 2019, Syriza had hoped to regain power. Instead, it was roundly disavowed, falling in the most recent election to 17.8%, compared to New Democracy’s 40.6%, a result that led longtime leader Alexis Tsipras to announce his resignation.
The split, which came after weeks of withering criticism of the leader from within the party, became inevitable in recent days, when Kasselakis insisted he wanted to expel three prominent members of the Umbrella faction, all former ministers.
Kasselakis who won the leadership election that followed Syriza’s defeat at the polls in September said he would put the question to a referendum among party members.
Kasselakis style is repprtedly based on social media presence and charisma but his past as a former Goldman Sachs employee and shipowner is in contradiction with the party’s old-school leftists.