A demand for a leader election

Pavlos Polakis, the party's transparency sector head and MP for Chania, pressed the Political Secretariat on Friday, 16 October, to convene a party congress and start the process of electing a leader by January. According to reports, he called a leader election the party's only and last chance. His proposal was a congress that would declare candidacies, followed by a vote for a leader and a Central Committee chosen from the membership. Most members of the Political Secretariat reportedly did not agree with him. Polakis also said the collective leadership did not fit Greek political reality.

Objections inside the leadership

Rena Dourou, the parliamentary group president, and Nikos Pappas, the party's secretary and an MP, reportedly opposed the proposal. Reports said Dourou questioned whether everyone in the collective leadership worked with the same effectiveness. Pappas was reported as saying he had no intention of serving watered-down narratives or the inward-looking focus of intra-party procedures. The same day, Polakis criticised the party's polling and political picture, calling the image to be presented to the Central Committee artificial. In reported remarks, he put the assessment plainly:

“We are not doing well.”

The Central Committee on Saturday

The Central Committee convened on Saturday, 17 October. Polakis opened by framing the situation in stark terms:

“Here we are talking about a survival situation.”

He said SYRIZA had 1.2% in polls when Famellos argued the party should vote for another party, while the poll average under collective leadership stood at 1.44%. He said the switch to collective leadership had been meant to reverse Famellos's proposal and had done so, but the party no longer had growing influence. Polakis also argued that Tsipras and Androulakis could not become majority currents because they lacked a programme reflecting popular demands. He said a January congress declaring candidacies, followed within a week by a vote for leader and Central Committee, could reverse the party's course.

Polls under Famellos, as cited by Polakis1.2%

Average under collective leadership, as cited by Polakis1.44%

Polls under Famellos, as cited by Polakis

1.2 %

Average under collective leadership, as cited by Polakis

1.44 %

Data from the article text

Dourou defends collective leadership

Rena Dourou, speaking earlier at the Central Committee, defended the June decision for collective leadership and described it as a deeply left-wing choice. She said she was confident SYRIZA would be in the next parliament, and that Kyriakos Mitsotakis leaving office was not enough because the politics of the right had to be defeated. On the party's survival, she said:

“SYRIZA is here, despite the predictions of those who rushed to write us off.”

She said the party's usefulness was measured by its struggles and social contribution rather than the seats it held. Referring indirectly to the previous leadership, she said the party had ended a period of political ambiguity that had shrunk its parliamentary presence. She added that members shared responsibility for tolerating attitudes foreign to the left, and that the party needed comrades rather than saviours. Reports from the session did not record a decision on a January congress or a leader election.