Yesterday, Stefanos Kasselakis openly opposed the prospect of forming a single centre-left body, just two days before the crucial meeting of the Political Secretariat, proving that Polakis’ hard line against the “Centre” is increasingly gaining ground in the ranks of the party leadership.
In the first interview he gave yesterday after his return from the United States, Kasselakis rejected with very negative expressions the proposal to form a front of center-left forces, comparing it to the “liquidation” of his party.
No to… “liquefaction”
“The idea that SYRIZA will be liquidated into a party must end here and now,” he said. In fact, he set as conditions for any cooperation that the body be headed by the president of SYRIZA, limiting to a minimum the scope of consultation for the creation of a scheme that will have realistic hopes of reclaiming power.
He also stated that partnerships “are built from the bottom up and not the other way around”, referring essentially to the Greek timetables for the discussion on the formation of a single centre-left body.
It should be noted that Mr. Kasselakis’ “no” to the center-left was first formulated so clearly only some twenty-four hours after Pavlos Polakis’ “warning” television interview which expressed his absolute opposition to such a scheme.
“system pets”
In fact, in the interview in question, the head of SYRIZA’s Transparency department used harsh expressions against the Center, which he characterized as an “invention” and a “fabrication.” He also described centrist citizens as “pets of the system” and as people who “are ashamed to say that they live off the system.”
The debate over whether or not to form a single center-left body is expected to be at the center of the Central Committee meeting next Saturday, July 6 (10:00 am), at the Wyndham Grand Athens hotel.