The intra-party conflicts, the dismissals of party officials by Socrates Famellos and pressure from the Hellenic Police. are accelerating the disintegration of SYRIZA and threaten its unity.
The image SYRIZA now projects resembles that of a party in an advanced stage of political disintegration. The Central Committee’s decision regarding the stance toward the Hellenic Police (ELAS) of Alexis Tsipras not only failed to heal the internal wounds, but also opened a new cycle of conflicts, disputes, and purges. With the collapse in the polls continuing and top officials already looking toward the exit, the Koumoundourou headquarters resembles more a political evacuation zone than a party that claims a leading role in current developments.
The paradox is that the crisis no longer stems from external adversaries but from the very shadow of Alexis Tsipras. The former prime minister, without being formally part of SYRIZA, determines almost every internal debate. And as ELAS gains strength, it becomes increasingly clear that the real battle is not about the opposition’s strategy against the government, but the political survival of those who remain at Koumoundourou.
The cuts that revealed the scale of the crisis
The removal of Nikos Pappas from his position as parliamentary spokesperson and the departure of Kostas Zachariadis from the party’s leadership are not mere organizational changes. These are moves that confirm that Socrates Famellos is attempting to fortify the party apparatus against a wave of centrifugal forces.
The problem for the president of SYRIZA is that these dismissals do not solve the political problem. On the contrary, they highlight it. When top officials either openly disagree or are preparing to move to EL.A.S., the picture that emerges is that of a party that is constantly losing ground and members.
Polakis Draws the Line in the Civil War
If the purges revealed the magnitude of the crisis, Pavlos Polakis’s intervention revealed its depth. The now-independent MP directly called on SYRIZA MPs to decide “who they will side with and who they will leave behind,” turning the internal party disagreement into an open political ultimatum.
In essence, Polakis described what many avoid saying publicly: that SYRIZA is caught between two incompatible directions. On the one hand, there are those who consider political absorption into Tsipras’s project inevitable; on the other, there are those who know that in such a scenario, they themselves would be left out of the game.
Famellos is trying to square the circle
Socrates Famellos’s position is becoming increasingly difficult. On the one hand, he states that SYRIZA supports the Hellenic Police (ELAS) and recognizes its “crucial” role. On the other hand, he insists that there is no question of dissolving or suspending the party’s operations.
Politically, however, these two positions are difficult to reconcile. Because the more Tsipras’s party gains strength, the more the political space that SYRIZA can occupy independently shrinks. And the more party officials and voters shift toward ELAS, the harder it becomes to convince anyone that these are two parallel and equal political paths.
The Dead End of “Support Without Merger”
The Central Committee’s decision has created a political entity without a clear identity. SYRIZA is called upon to support a new party that is vying for the same political space, the same voters, and the same leadership, while at the same time it is supposed to maintain its political autonomy.
The result is a situation reminiscent of political paralysis. The leadership cannot speak of an autonomous course without clashing with the Tsipras faction. Nor, however, can it move toward full alignment without admitting that SYRIZA, as an autonomous political project, has essentially run its course.
In a sense, the party that once vied for power now finds itself trapped amid expulsions, purges, ultimatums, and infighting. And as the discussion revolves around who is leaving, who stays, and who is moving toward ELAS, the more it becomes clear that SYRIZA’s fundamental problem is no longer the Mitsotakis government. It is its very political survival.
