Debate SYRIZA: Points, questions, suspicions and Kasselakis in the room –

Table of Contents

• 1 Kasselakis is “present” at the SYRIZA debate
  • 1.1 Self-criticism and straight shots
• 2 Against Polakis – Famellou
• 3 The mantinada to… Haris Faradouris
• 4 Gletsos is out of its waters
• 5 Not even a mention of PaSoK
• 6 **Considering the ⁣diverse stances expressed during the debate, how effectively did the candidates address the concerns of SYRIZA’s broad voter base, and what implications might this have for party unity moving forward?**

The SYRIZA “wind turbine” needs a lot of energy to restart politically. The power switch needs to be opened in order to start the system again. To electrify his audience. Whether they enter the system or not, the batteries of Apostolos Gletsos are probably not enough. Especially if they are completely discharged. Not even the (photovoltaic) windows are enough to turn the sun. It takes a lot of work.

The debate of the presidential candidates on ERT, on Wednesday night (20/11), left this impression. However, SYRIZA is furiously looking for the expected restart, after 16 months of insecurity and introversion. At the same time, however, he is haunted by his recent past, disturbing for Koumoundourou, he stumbles and fails to distance himself from what is happening at the same time.

Kasselakis is “present” at the SYRIZA debate

The four contenders for the anointing had been divided into dyads. On the one hand Apostolos Gletsos and Pavlos Polakis, on the other Sokratis Famellos and Nikolas Farandouris. Seated at two off-white -futuristic aesthetic- tables, they were supposed to have between them the two moderators of the evening: Christina Vidou and Apostolos Maggiriadis. Not that the two public television journalists went unnoticed. It’s just that Stefanos Kasselakis, as a spirit or even a ghost that haunts them, had invaded and nested in the studio.

A lot of talk revolved around the former president of the official opposition, while he made public the 15 options for the name he is officially establishing on Saturday – a day before the SYRIZA elections. Among the sentences are “Tomorrow”, “Forward”, “We”, “Progressive Movement” and “Modern Left”. Words that in one way or another came out (the same or with variations) from the lips of the presidential candidates.

Self-criticism and straight shots

There were also brave attempts to self-reflect on the fact that St. Kasselakis was supported in every way until the censure of September. Especially P. Polakis and Sokr. They looked in the mirror together and talked personally. They decided that it would not be wise in this public situation to disavow the responsibilities attributed to them for what had happened. They wouldn’t be convincing.

“Unfortunately, we trusted people who got to know him” said the MP of Chania last year. “If I had known, I would have had to make a stronger self-criticism” the former president of KO claimed for February.

Of course, direct shots were fired at the 36-year-old American-obsessed politician. All of them had something to impute and accuse him of. For “inflating”, “obscene propaganda” after his words about Mati and “lies from nowhere”. For “shrinking and discrediting” SYRIZA. For a statute that was “trampled” and “trampled on”. For a “complete stranger” who was never tested.

It was a strategic choice to deconstruct the “old” in its entirety and leave it once and for all in oblivion. Persona non grata for Koumoundourou now, a “Trojan horse” with a plan to get rid of it.

Against Polakis – Famellou

The “familiar arrows” that were not missing from time to time also proved to be a strategic move. Basically from one table to another. And whoever can stand it. The sense (of opinion polls and betting companies) that the two (Polakis – Famello) could not have a third gave birth to an inevitable conflicting mood that swelled in the direct dialogue. Politicians with different approaches clashed over economic, social and intra-party or future cooperation issues. Clashes of radicalism versus political modernization for a better position at the start of Sunday’s race.

At the core of the counter-complaints are PPC, ELPE, the banks and their nationalizations, the bill for the marriage of same-sex couples and finally the “rebirth” of SYRIZA. Sarcastic compliments (“My Socrates”) and criticisms of management, behavior and programmatic positions became strands of a conversation that, if it did not end up being offensive or toxic, was not entirely sterile either. It had liveliness, it gained intensity.

“The previous debate was not so lively” Sokratis Famellos said when the tone had risen somewhat, implying that PaSoK lacked similar nerve. “I like that he interrupted me” emphasized the prepared Pavlos Polakis who would later get the “rematch” with his own interventions while the Thessaloniki politician was speaking. Of course, there was no overshoot either by one or the other, they also played defense now and then.

However, in his position on the marriage of same-sex couples, the prolific Cretan insisted that he was right and is not changing his position. He reiterated that he rejects adoption through surrogacy for all couples, unless it is a relative (sister or mother), considering that in a different case it results in a stiff commercial negotiation. The prolonged movements with the hands and the sharp glances reflected in several cases the impudence that surrounds him from head to toe.

The ready-witted Sokr. Famellos slammed it as a choice because it is inconsistent with the party’s principles of equality. On the contrary, however, he defended him (as well as Athina Linou) when he referred to the without warning deletion from KO. Of course, he also wanted to know “how many mistakes SYRIZA can tolerate”, citing examples of extreme behaviors inside or outside Parliament that tarnish the image.

The two also strongly disagreed about what had happened in the KE vote (in Caravel) to impose where you belong as a condition for candidacy, even if P. Polakis had voted for her. Mainly the latter insisted that he was the first to submit his to the PG.

The mantinada to… Haris Faradouris

In his own repertoire, of course, the MP from Chania also had a mandinada for Nikolas Faradouris, whom he indirectly but clearly called out for his decision to be a candidate for president even though he was elected as a member of the European Parliament a few months ago.

“Never disdain the lower steps, because you first step on them and go out to the palaces,” she advised him. He even compared him to Haris Doukas who rushed to claim the leadership of PaSoK, before showing work in the Municipality of Athens.

On the contrary, the Cephalonian politician Sokr. Famellos compared him to Nikos Androulakis while he was in Brussels and had to manage his party remotely. “Can SYRIZA withstand another experiment?” he asked, addressing his fellow candidate from the left.

Nick. Faradouris gave the answers he wanted to give – and the way he wanted them, as the doubt about his dual role, since he is elected president of SYRIZA, was total from the panel.

His own allusion to Sokr. Famello was about joining a party faction to which, as he defended himself, he himself never belonged. He even failed by rejecting the proposal to establish two vice-presidents with increased responsibilities following an institutional change in a constitutional conference. “Why are they teasing you?” he wondered.

The SYRIZA MEP was impetuous and penetrating at the start of the process. It is no coincidence that he also opened the circle of dialogue with his interlocutors, quickly spending his two available questions in the section on the economy.

Afterwards, however, and especially in the second part of the conversation, he became considerably milder and milder. Especially when he wanted to defend the workers at Avgi and Kokkino who were outside the Radio Megaros and were protesting about the months’ earnings, he lowered the decibels.

Gletsos is out of its waters

Although an actor with long experience in front of the cameras, Apostolos Gletsos appeared stressed and showed several times swimming in deep and dark waters. As an acting major with a stage track, he wasn’t as informative as topics like the economy and the climate crisis required. It was P. Polakis who corrected him about the wind turbines that do not store (not produce) electricity.

He also exuded embarrassment when he had to defend his view on foreign prostitutes! “You should definitely do this, it’s something you’ll find in front of you,” he repeated.

He undoubtedly had difficulty adjusting and getting used to the protocol over time, leaving unfinished sentences and falling into verbal lapses. At least “now at the end I managed to be in time” he exclaimed solemnly when Christina Vidou noticed that this time he had not abused the seconds allocated to him. It helped that he was reading his “vision” for the next day’s SYRIZA.

The most accessible, for him, issues were the Local Self-Government. They were areas that he has handled as mayor and his answers, to the questions of those in front of him, were more settled and robust. As if his co-candidates generally protected him from questions – traps.

Neither did he show any inclination to embarrass or squeeze any of his interlocutors. The P. Polakis, they say, asked him about his health, generously offering him the opportunity to play a “home game”. Their own views seemed to intersect more, while a more modern profile emerged from the opposite table. Maybe that says a lot, maybe nothing if there is a second round (December 1st).

He seemed on the whole as if he preferred to live it all out, not caring in the least about the outcome. As reflected in “choose one of us” with which he urged the electorate to go to the polls.

Not even a mention of PaSoK

In total, the debate of the candidates lasted a little over two hours. Exactly what the two coordinators had predicted in their discussions before the start. “We are Scottish” was said with humor by Pavlos Polakis, who, upon hearing that #debate became the first trend (with more than 4,500 posts) on X, underlined after the only ten-minute break that “all this shows that SYRIZA is not at 5.8 %”.

Koumoundourou hopes that the interest is not epidermal or superficial. That will be verified by mass participation in the more than 400 ballot boxes next Sunday. The expectation of 70,000 – 80,000 is a bet for which a great deal of effort is being made to verify with reorganization throughout the district.

If it happens, then SYRIZA acquires the right to say that it withstands the pressures from Taurus and positions itself as a dynamic partner of PaSoK. In the debate, there was no talk about Char. Trikoupi and any form of potential alliance with an electoral perspective. A “pillar of progressive partnerships” was only heard. The battery was running out…