22 former members accuse Karystianou of centralised rule as Hope for Democracy crisis deepens

Twenty-two sign a joint declaration

Twenty-two former members and supporters of the Greek political movement Hope for Democracy issued a joint public statement on 5 August 2026, rejecting accusations by leader Maria Karystianou that they left over personal ambitions, personal agendas, or lack of stamina. The signatories, who include former press spokesperson Thanasis Avgerinos, Vasilis Kokotsakis and Katerina Moutsatsou, insisted their departure was a 'stance of principle' rooted in organisational and political disagreements that made continued participation impossible.

The statement declared that the signatories had believed in a genuine citizens' movement built 'from the base to the top', carrying the authentic social demand of hundreds of thousands of citizens for truth, justice and accountability. Instead, they wrote, they witnessed a concentration of decisive responsibilities in a restricted circle of people without corresponding institutional or democratic legitimacy.

Accusations of centralised governance

The former members described a gradual transition toward a centralised decision-making model run by very few people, replacing collective processes, transparency and institutional formation with what they called 'court logic, mechanisms and behind-the-scenes rivalries'. They posed direct questions about who decides, by what procedures officials are selected, and how the membership base actually participates.

The signatories rejected any framing of their departure as a character flaw. 'Criticism is not betrayal. Disagreement is not subversion. Departure is not a lack of character,' they wrote, insisting they needed answers, not labels.

Avgerinos escalates the confrontation

Thanasis Avgerinos, expelled from the movement in early August, posted on Facebook hours after the joint statement, calling for an open reckoning. He asked why 'almost the entire magnificent Tempi Movement remained outside Hope', and concluded with the phrase: 'Hope is dying last, but it is dying.'

The following day, 6 August, Avgerinos posted again, this time citing an interview by Takis Kotsorgios, a fisherman and former municipal councilor of Messolonghi who was among the 22 signatories. Avgerinos contrasted those who seek a movement where power lies in the hands of members with others who, he wrote, 'dream of parliamentary seats and conspiracies', adding that democracy will 'wake them abruptly and ruin their dream'.

Kotsorgios details blocked local elections

In his interview, Kotsorgios described what happened when members in Aitoloakarnania attempted to hold elections for a prefectural committee. They were told 'No, you do not hold elections,' he said, because the leadership had a mindset of appointing even the coordinators of local committees.

Kotsorgios explained his departure by saying that democracy does not function within the movement at any level and that democratic procedures are not applied. His conscience, he said, no longer allowed him to operate in such a climate.

Karystianou's response

Maria Karystianou had previously stated that her party would withstand 'every attack' and would be strong in the next elections, whenever they take place. She had suggested that departing members left due to personal ambitions and personal agendas, a characterisation the 22 signatories explicitly rejected in their joint statement.

The rift marks the most public fracture yet in a movement that emerged from the broader civic mobilisation following the Tempi train disaster, raising questions about whether the party can retain its activist base amid the departures.