In his address to the SYRIZA Parliamentary Group, party president Stefanos Kasselakis indirectly referenced the expulsion of MP Pavlos Polakis from the group, hinting at “tactical maneuvers and individual agendas.”
Just minutes after Polakis’ expulsion from the opposition party and the subsequent events, Kasselakis remarked, “Things have never been easy for our party and our parliamentary groups. But in this situation, although we were reduced to 36 by betrayal, we have a duty to work as if we were 156. And rest assured that society will repay us for this.” He added that “Society will reward us with the only currency we recognize: moral vindication.” He urged members to “stop focusing on trivial matters because the insignificant divides and diminishes. And we do not have the luxury and the right to forget addition and multiplication,” while “pointing out” Pavlos Polakis, he emphasized that “there is no room for tactical maneuvers and individual agendas,” without naming his former ardent supporter.
“No One is Infallible”
“There are 10 million pairs of eyes out there watching and judging us daily,” Kasselakis observed, adding, “and among us, there is no one infallible, but I am sure—otherwise, I wouldn’t be president of this party—that there is no one deceitful either.”
“Let us highlight our collective quality, not our individual petty disagreements,” he urged the SYRIZA MPs, explaining that “the people elected you as MPs and the people elected me as your president. And none of us made a mistake,” as he put it.
At the same time, Kasselakis launched a severe critique against Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the New Democracy government, marking the 50th anniversary of the Restoration of Democracy by stating that “he spoke mainly on behalf of his party’s and family’s tradition, and one could attribute all these omissions to a convenient subjectivism.”
Prominent Role of Andreas
Additionally, Kasselakis made a notable reference to the founder of PASOK-KINAL, noting, “I do not focus on narrating a post-junta era without its main protagonist, Andreas Papandreou,” while stressing that “in this critical situation, as a responsible opposition, we demand that the government finally present a coherent national strategy for Greek-Turkish relations with a beginning, middle, and end,” Kasselakis emphasized.
He also spoke about the “governmental deadlock,” which he said “foretells the collapse of the Mitsotakis’ managerial state and the uncontrolled scattering of fragments across society,” while clarifying that his party “rejects this scandalous merger of a problematic cooperative bank with a deliberately problematic public bank,” referring to the merger of the Cooperative Bank of Crete and Attica Bank.
“Period of Escalation”
Kasselakis extensively addressed Greek-Turkish relations, asserting that “despite governmental commitments for ‘calm waters,’ we see that Greek-Turkish relations are entering a new period of escalation,” and “while honoring the 50 years since the restoration of Democracy, I call on you to be a shield protecting society so that the collapsing government does not erase any citizen.” He concluded by saying, “As long as there is SYRIZA-PS, the hope for a great democratic government remains alive.”
