SYRIZA domestic and SYRIZA foreign is often reminded by the official opposition with its positions Stefanou Kasselakis which cause a lot of debate about the party’s positions. Since the day of his election, and especially in the last two months, the president of SYRIZA-PS expresses opinions and positions that surprise many officials and parliamentarians, despite the fact that they do not position themselves publicly, as they do not want to create an issue on the way to the European elections.
Immigrant
A few days ago St. Kasselakis surprised many when he agreed to the fence on the Evros, even though many SYRIZA MPs are negative. Regarding the fence on the Evros, he said that it is a useful tool, and regarding Immigration and Refugees, he said that it is a European issue and there should be forced solidarity, i.e. equal distribution of Refugees. His report on the need to have a fence in the area disturbed and only MEP Kostas Arvanitis wanted to draw the red lines of SYRIZA.
Postal vote
The other issue that created a rift within SYRIZA was the movement of St. Kasselakis to judge positively the possibility of postal voting for the European elections, even adding that it bothers him that it does not apply to the national elections as well. Especially on this specific issue, there were MPs behind the scenes who said that SYRIZA, during its own presidency, voted against the postal vote for the European elections and fiercely attacked the government, dynamizing its attempt to include an article in the specific bill in order to apply the postal vote to the national elections as well for foreign residents.
The Spartans
Another interesting element, which is also topical due to the developments in the “Spartaites” party, was the choice of SYRIZA to characterize as insufficient the law on the basis of which a criminal prosecution was brought against this party a few days ago, but this law was also voted against by the officer opposition. Also, St. Kasselakis said months ago about the “Spartans”: “At the end of the day, they too have been elected by the Greek people. They represent something…”.
Defense
Another case occurred a few days ago in the Parliament, where SYRIZA-PS did not vote in favor of the sale of ammunition to the Czech Republic in the relevant committee of the Parliament, as this ammunition will have Ukraine as its final destination, as its officials said. On the contrary, however, the official opposition voted in favor of the supply of helicopters, as it remains consistent – according to the words of SYRIZA executives – in the possibility of strengthening our national defense. Here the lines got tangled literally, as in those days St. Kasselakis appeared much more “promoted” than SYRIZA has been in the past, after saying that the country’s defense is non-negotiable.
Hague
Defended the appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague only on two issues: continental shelf – EEZ. And regarding the Cyprus issue, he said that it should be at the center of Greek-Turkish and Euro-Turkish relations.
About the fence in Evros he said it is a “useful tool”
USA and bases
He was positive about Greek-American cooperation on the issue of bases, although he said that “nothing is permanent in life”. In essence, he voted “yes” to the US bases: “There is no problem with the bases, but Greece should have the appropriate exchanges”, which according to him are not sufficient. Here too there is a significant difference.
His move to call NATO a “sacred defense alliance” surprised many in the SYRIZA-PS Parliamentary Group
NATO
But what surprised many even of his current supporters in the SYRIZA-PS Parliamentary Group was his move to call NATO a “sacred defense alliance” and that he appeared to support the deployment of the Greek frigate in the Red Sea, although before since Christmas the line was different: It was, they said, a mission without a UN decision, i.e. in violation of International Law, while the Parliament has not decided on it either. Especially these two reports strike at the heart of SYRIZA and what it stands for, while it is interesting that most of what is said publicly has not been discussed in the party’s organs.
The “memorandum decision”
Of course, these positions are not a current phenomenon, but the first signs had appeared with the election of St. Kasselakis in the leadership of the party. Many remember last fall the “bomb” he dropped about the 37 billion euro “cushion”, saying that “there has not been a more monumental decision by the SYRIZA government than this “cushion” of Mr. Tsakalotos”.
BSE and workers
Others remember two speeches he made, one at the “Economist” Conference and the other at the General Assembly of the BSE, after his election, where they were “night and day” from each other.
The move by Kasselakis to positively judge the possibility of postal voting for the European elections also causes tremors
In his speech to the BSE he proposed the position in favor of handing out shares to employees without any mention of raises and had called the capital a “prosperity tool”, while making no mention of business taxation. Instead, after the grumbling, he moved in a completely different direction and put forward all of the SYRIZA proposals that had been approved at his programmatic conference in 2020 and talked about wage increases above inflation, enshrining collective agreements, and even taxing surplus profits.
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