Greece’s main opposition party heads for yet another crack-up

ATHENS — Greece’s Syriza party is heading for another splintering and potentially the loss of its status as the country’s main opposition.

Syriza’s Central Committee decided late Saturday that its recently deposed leader, Stefanos Kasselakis, cannot be a candidate in the party’s upcoming leadership battle. The overwhelming vote against Kasselakis came in a session full of tensions, verbal attacks, booing and boycott efforts.

The socialist Pasok party is also in the process of electing a new leader, in what could be a moment of reckoning for the future of the country’s center left.

The left-wing Syriza, which governed Greece from 2015 to 2019, has been facing an existential crisis since it was crushed in last year’s election by conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. That defeat sparked the resignation of Syriza’s charismatic leader, Alexis Tsipras.

In September 2023, U.S. expat and former Goldman Sachs trader Stefanos Kasselakis was elected from nowhere to head Syriza, since which time the party has been mired in toxic infighting. Last November, dozens of members left Syriza and created the New Left party.

The discord has swelled since the party’s poor performance in June’s EU election, and has seen court threats, verbal assaults and even the police summoned to provide security at party headquarters. Kasselakis has maintained an aggressive stance against the majority of the party’s members and particularly toward his predecessor, Tsipras.

Last month Kasselakis was ousted by the party’s leadership via a motion of no confidence, amid accusations of authoritarian behavior and of not aligning ideologically with the party.

He was later blocked from standing as a candidate for the Syriza leadership after he sent a legal threat to the party last week, calling for an investigation into how parts of his wealth declaration had been leaked to the press.

Following Saturday’s vote, Kasselakis said he would confront his detractors next month at an extraordinary party congress set for Nov. 8-10 to take a final decision on Syriza’s leadership candidates. The first round of the contest will take place on Nov. 24, with a runoff set for Dec. 1 if necessary.

In the Pasok party contest, incumbent leader Nikos Androulakis is facing off against Athens Mayor Haris Doukas. Androulakis currently holds a significant lead, with an eight-point advantage over Doukas.

Whoever wins the leadership race will aim to capitalize on Syriza’s implosion and build on the attention generated by the elections.

Pasok has already cemented second place in voter polls, while the looming splinter within Syriza means it could become the main opposition in the parliament as well if Syriza loses at least five MPs.