SYRIZA-PA Central Committee passes censure motion against Kasselakis

Votes were cast by 286 out of a total of 295 Central Committee members, either in person or by phone, with the censure motion passing by 163 votes for and 120 against. There were also two abstentions and one spoilt vote.

Following this result, procedures for the election of a new party leader by the party's grassroots will begin, starting with the holding of an emergency party conference.

Addressing the Central Committee after the result was announced, Kasselakis said that he felt "release, because all the citizens witnessed the censure I have lived with since the first day I was elected president."

He accused "various factions" within the party's bureaucracy and elite of "refusing to accept the vote of the party members" and said his opponents had resorted to "practices that are not in line with the traditions of the left."

"My decisions will be announced to those I have and always will answer to, the people of SYRIZA," he concluded.

Nikos Pappas to represent SYRIZA-PA at TIF next week

The Central Committee also decided on the next steps after the censure motion against Kasselakis was passed, starting with a decision that the party's Parliamentary Group President Nikos Pappas will represent the party at TIF next weekend.

The SYRIZA-PA Political Secretariat will meet within the next two days to decide on the date for a new Central Committee meeting in 15 days, which will in turn decide a date for holding an Emergency Party Congress. This will announce the candidates for the election of a new party president.

The Central Committee will make recommendations on other procedural issues and on the date for electing the new president. The Congress, however, will also hold a political debate on SYRIZA-PA's policy framework.

Among those who have said they intend to stand for the party's leadership is Pavlos Polakis.

AMNA