MEP Stelios Kouloglou announced his departure from the SYRIZA Eurogroup.
“The situation that has developed in the party lacks seriousness, at the same time that a violent overthrow of the politics of SYRIZA is being attempted, adding more fuel to the fire. In these circumstances, for those who wanted to maintain an independent stance, the situation is unbearable” he states, among other things, in his letter to Stefanos Kasselakis.
In his letter, Mr. Kouloglou refers, among other things, to the lack of a serious opposition, criticizes the positions expressed in the BSE by Stefanos Kasselakis, while harshly criticizing the decision to delete Stefanos Tzoumakas.
“Even before your election, the public debate revolved around your personal life and not around your political proposals. SYRIZA has found itself feeding gossip to the mornings, while Mr. Mitsotakis has been left alone and undisturbed to do politics on the news.
This has not happened in the history of official opposition parties, not only in Greece but also internationally. For this you have the main responsibility and despite the relevant points, nothing has changed. Just yesterday, trying to justify your earlier anti-Syrian, conservative writings, you invoked, among others, “a relationship with a girl that I was not happy with,” notes Mr. Kouloglu to add.
Read the entire letter of Kouloglou to Kasselakis:
“To the president of SYRIZA
Dear Mr. Kasselakis
The situation that has developed in the party lacks seriousness, at the same time that a violent overthrow of the SYRIZA policy is being attempted, adding more fuel to the fire. In these conditions for those who wanted to take an independent stand, the situation is unbearable.
The lack of a serious opposition is one of the main reasons for the stagnation of SYRIZA, as was also expressed in the municipal elections.
Already before your election, the public debate revolved around your personal life and not around your political proposals. SYRIZA has found itself feeding gossip to the mornings, while Mr. Mitsotakis has been left alone and undisturbed to do politics on the news.
This has not happened in the history of official opposition parties, not only in Greece but also internationally. For this you have the main responsibility and despite the relevant points, nothing has changed. Just yesterday, in trying to justify your earlier anti-Syrian, conservative writings, you cited, among other things, “a relationship with a girl I wasn’t happy with.”
Whenever there is an opportunity to formulate your programmatic positions, they are the opposite of what SYRIZA has supported until now. In your recent speech at the BSE, apart from the wink at the 8-hour attendees (“It is not possible to impose, ladies and gentlemen, ten-hour work without an increase in wages”) or the lack of any mention of a wage increase and the need to conclude a new national collective labor agreement, you formulated the proposal on stock options in companies.
Apart from the fact that stock options basically concern executives of companies listed on the Stock Exchange, the proposal has nothing to do with the Greek reality of small and medium-sized, often family-owned production units.
In Greece, shipping companies illegally require workers to pay back part of their overtime pay or state benefits given to new recruits. Thus working seafarers pay tax for incomes they only have on paper. You don’t even say it one step before stock options.
Finally, let me note, if it retains any value, that Alexis Tsipras, whom you often refer to, had categorically opposed the stock option proposal that Mr. Mitsotakis had formulated, again speaking to SEV.
You often make it clear that SYRIZA’s politics should be modeled after the American Democratic Party. But the two-party system in the US has led to a great increase in social inequalities. The United States has greater disparities between rich and poor than any other developed country.
Income inequality in the US increased by about 20% from 1980 to 2016 and is linked to globalization, but also the decline of unions, the lack of collective bargaining and the degradation of the minimum wage. Life expectancy is falling, especially in the weaker social strata. For the past few days, the Economist has been presenting a jarring, macabre example:
“In 2021, today’s American 25-year-olds without a four-year college degree (about two-thirds of the adult population) are expected to live an average of about ten years less than those with a bachelor’s degree. In 1992 (when Democrat Bill Clinton-SS was elected) that gap was a third of what it is today.”
These ever-increasing inequalities constitute the background of the deep and multifaceted crisis of the American political system. So even if a similar model could be established in Greece, which is extremely doubtful, it is not what a party that seeks more social justice and a reduction of inequalities should adopt.
That’s why trying to present your critics as “left-leaning” dogmatists provokes more backlash. The vast majority of people who belong to this area want a modern, democratic, green and leftist party. When you were elected, I stated that SYRIZA changed from a rock band to light pop. But here, in the name of the majority, he goes to turn it into… Kalamatian.
Of course you are not responsible for the party judgment you received, your internal party rivals certainly have more responsibility. But the lack of politics I mentioned above as well as the formulation of positions – without any internal party discussion – that imply a hidden agenda, multiply the reactions and question marks among the party members who are looking for a credible alternative proposal to the complete hegemony of the ND.
In addition, the attacks and threats of deletion, exclusion from ballots, etc., the “so I want” announcement of the deletion of Jumaka without following the procedures provided for by the statute, have created a toxic climate, which has nothing to do with relations cooperation in multinational companies, not in a party with goals and ideals. I do not want to refer more to SYRIZA’s unilateral first announcement on Gaza, also far from its traditional policy. Although I am not a member of the party, the situation is sad.
The climate is unbearable and because I cannot support policies with which I do not agree, I am announcing my withdrawal from the SYRIZA Eurogroup. It goes without saying that I remain in the political group of the Left and that I will cooperate with the MEPs of SYRIZA in every matter concerning peace, democracy and social justice in Greece and Europe”.
