Opposition Democratic Left (DIMAR) State Deputy Spyros Lykoudis and another 25 members of the party’s Central Committee confirmed late on Monday they are leaving the party during a meeting at a central Athens hotel.

Spyros Lykoudis decided to become independent and in a letter to the Speaker of the Parliament Evangelos Meimarakis announced today that he was leaving the party and he would be an independent deputy. The other members might follow him within the next days.

The 26 members to resign plan to call a national meeting within the next few weeks to agree on future initiatives on forming a center-left wing in the progressive and democratic field.