The atmosphere in the corridors of Koumundourou no longer resembles not just a party in crisis, but a powder magazine ready to explode.
The clock is counting down and the tension has reached such a point that the boiling cauldron is about to explode, dragging down what’s left of the old SYRIZA.
At the centre of this vortex is the person who once formed the cohesive bond of the area, Alexis Tsipras. Only now his name is not pronounced with the respect of the past but accompanied by the rejection of “disruptive”.
For many, the rage that is bubbling up in Koumoundourou’s offices is not a bolt from the blue. It is the result of a long period of introspection, where the base and the majority of the cadres feel that their former leader is now moving with his personal political survival and his posterity as his sole focus, disregarding any collective decisions.
Pushing for autonomy
The belief that A. Tsipras is undermining the effort to regroup SYRIZA in order to pave the way for his own, new and totally controlled, has poisoned relations at every level. The majority of the party apparatus, tired of backtracking and being hit below the waist, is now clearly calling for an autonomous course in the elections. They don’t want a SYRIZA that is a supplement or springboard for one man’s ambitions, but an organization that stands on its own two feet.
In this landscape of utter rupture, Nikos Pappas is primarily trying to balance on a tightrope, calling for “the unity of the left and progressive forces.” Reports say a move towards convergence is not going to be accepted by the former prime minister.
Alexis Tsipras, as many in Koumoundourou are now openly accusing him, does not seem willing to have by his side fellow travellers with critical thinking or an independent political viewpoint. What he is looking for are willing applauders to flank a party of one person, where democratic procedures are merely a smokescreen for the decisions of one.
The delay in convening the Political Secretariat has exacerbated the climate of suspicion. There are whispers in the corridors that it is deliberate, to complete behind-the-scenes processes and weaken the voices of doubt. But this strategy of postponement seems to be working as a boomerang. The grassroots and the cadres who remain loyal to the principles of collectivism are preparing for the big clean-up.
The next meeting of the party organ will not be a formality, but a moment of truth. There, the moves that will define the new relationship – or rather the final break – with Alexis Tsipras are expected to be launched.
The stakes are huge and go beyond the limits of a simple intra-party rivalry. It concerns the very existence of SYRIZA as a pole in the Left. Because if the party succumbs to Tsipras’ pressure, many believe that it will sign its death certificate.
The need for an autonomous course, away from the shadow and the former leader’s machinations, is presented as the only way of salvation for those who do not accept to become extras in the … project “The return of the ruler”, which is not in line with the long history of the Greek Left.
The accusations of disruptive moves on the part of A. Tsipras – who takes no official position – are no longer conspiracy theories but the harsh reality that the executives in Koumoundourou face every day, seeing a mechanism being set up in parallel and with a hostile attitude towards the party that was once a vehicle for power.
Climate of war
The political loneliness into which the former prime minister seems to be falling is the other side of the coin. Choosing the path of conflict with his own party, Alexis Tsipras seems to be burning the bridges he built in the past.
His demand for total control and his unwillingness to accept any form of internal party control are leading him to an isolationism, which he is trying to cover up with communication fireworks and safe conversations such as the one yesterday at the Halandrios Rematia.
But real politics is not practiced only with videos and posts, but in the institutions and in connection with society. The mood is belligerent and the showdown ahead will be to the death. On the one hand, a mechanism struggling to keep alive the tradition of the participatory left and the autonomy of the space, and on the other, a person who envisions a Western-style leadership party, where the leader is the absolute ruler and the party a mere spectator.
Kumundourou has got the message and the response it is preparing will be resounding. The stakes of autonomy are the last line of defence for a party that refuses to surrender without a fight to the whims of the “disruptive” Tsipras.
