“Even if the conference decides to cancel the vote of no confidence and that I must remain president, we will go ahead with elections to eliminate any doubt about what the base wants,” said Stefanos Kasselakis in an interview with ANT1.
When asked about the possibility of creating a new party if developments do not allow him to be a candidate for president or if he ultimately loses, Mr. Kasselakis stated, “We have a party and we aimed to renew it. All this is happening because we tried to implement constitutional changes that would bring democratic changes to the party.”
“I am also raising the issue of the party’s autonomy, to ensure it is not liquidated. If I lose at the polls, I will remain in the party; I will not do what other comrades did after my election, who accused me,” he added.
“I have come to stay in every possible development,” said Stefanos Kasselakis.
He continued by stating, “I will not pursue anyone the day after my restoration; we will proceed with constitutional changes and the base will decide. If the local community decides it wants as a candidate someone who has spoken very poorly about me, that will happen; that is democracy.”
“We are foreign ambitions within the party, not a foreign body to each other,” said Stefanos Kasselakis, continually directing his criticism at the other factions within SYRIZA, firmly opposing any potential cooperation between SYRIZA and other parties, stating, “We did not unite last year in the Center-Left to now ally with former ministers of other governments that bankrupted the country.”
As he emphasized, “I will oppose any merger of parties outside the Center-Left. I told this to Alexis Tsipras since last year when we spoke. We also talked recently, at the event his institute held.”
In response to criticisms and claims that some “brought him in to dissolve SYRIZA,” Stefanos Kasselakis replied, “No one brought me here; I was a candidate on the party’s electoral list in ninth place. I became president through the expansion of the party’s base.”
Regarding whether he could lead a new party, Mr. Kasselakis answered, “I came to stay in every possible development. I do not intend to shrink SYRIZA. If SYRIZA is liquidated, we should create a party more friendly to business. Where they had SYRIZA for dead, we have resurrected it; we have introduced political discourse and have been developing many proposals for a year. Today, I will present 5 pillars with 18 key positions, so that those who exclude me know there is a program crafted by experts and is as detailed as that of any other candidate. We must produce policy proposals and do politics every day, going out into the world.”
