Kastanidis argued that the party leader changed the statutes specifically to block his candidacy, accusing the move of being “devious.”

“Deviousness can be inventive,” Kastanidis said in an interview with 102 FM of ERT3, noting that the proposal was put forward by the party leadership and approved by the majority.

He declined to elaborate further for now, stating he will comment again when he deems it appropriate. At the same time, he made clear that he does not accept that his political future depends on party leadership decisions:

“Androulakis will not determine whether I remain in the political life of this country. That will be decided either by the Greek people or by myself,” he said.