The New Left counted its second loss in a few hours, as after Ferhat Ozgur MP Ferhat Ozgur became independent, Aristides Baltas also announced withdrawal.

The former minister in Alexis Tsipras’s governmentsin resignation letter he uses harsh language and takes jabs at the party’s Political Bureau, noting that it “is not in a position to protect the seriousness of its operation” and adding that the bureau leaked “an alleged ‘news’ including me by name”.

According to reports, the angry reaction comes after a leak made by the Sakellarides side, which stated that during a meeting of the Politburo the Aristides Baltas, who was believed to be on the side of Charitsis, expressed his disagreement with the imminent moves to leave and that he was informed that he would remain in NeAr.

Summary of the resignation letter:

Dear comrades:

I hereby wish to tender my resignation as a member of the NeAr SG for the following reasons:

Firstly, the NeAr SG at its meeting of 14.05.2026 proved with another “occasion” that it is not able to protect the seriousness of its function: an alleged “news” including me by name was leaked from within its ranks.

Secondly, such a leak in the particularly delicate situation in which NeAr is currently in obviously serves politically self-serving purposes and very clear internal party objectives, undermining the institutional function which the body is supposed to serve. Particularly in circumstances such as the present.

Third, but equally important, at that meeting I expressed a broad political reflection and in no way made any kind of “statement”, as the leak containing my name purports or implies.

Because I consider the above to be extremely important in the very difficult situation in which we have found ourselves, I feel obliged to submit my resignation as a member of the SG to the party’s CC, which has done me the honour of electing me to that body. My continued participation in that body serves no purpose in relation to the objectives that we all set out in our founding declaration, objectives to which I still adhere.

Thank you for your cooperation to date.

Aristides Baltas

Member of the NeAr CC

P.S. I hope that the SG will make a correction to the alleged ‘news’ and I request that this be communicated to the members of the CC.