Olga Gerovasili, who has been at the center of developments in SYRIZA, made it clear today, Monday (September 23, 2024), that she will not run for president of the opposition party.
Speaking on ANT1 television, she stated that she has decided not to participate in the electoral race and emphasized that “SYRIZA has been very patient with Mr. Kasselakis.”
“There is an organized character assassination army, and the people of SYRIZA have shown great tolerance toward Stefanos Kasselakis. We must do everything to ensure that he does not win again; I will rally for this cause. There may be more than one candidate, but in my opinion, there should be only one,” she added.
When asked what she would do if Stefanos Kasselakis is elected again, she replied, “We’ll see; there are many scenarios,” while regarding whether she would announce whom she would support for the leadership of SYRIZA, Olga Gerovasili answered that she hasn’t thought about it yet.
She continued by saying: “We want SYRIZA to be an alternative for the country. It addresses from the democratic center to the left.”
At another point, she remarked: “As a personal wish, I would like a strong center-left in the country, together with PASOK, potentially with Alexis Tsipras as the leader.”
Details of what Olga Gerovasili said:
During her intervention on the show “Hour of Greece,” the Vice President of the Bank of Greece, Olga Gerovasili, referred, among other things, to the following:
In response to the initial question about the possibility of her candidacy in the upcoming internal party elections, the Vice President of the Bank of Greece spoke about a decision she reached after evaluating the past year and weighing how and from what position she could continue to be useful to SYRIZA: “I answer straightforwardly that at this stage, I have chosen not to enter the competition for positions, believing that the political stakes are much more important. We have gone through a year of violent attacks from an ‘over-ego’ against ‘us’, with all that implies for the structures, values, and functioning of a leftist party. A year of attacks on collective processes, divisions, inventing internal enemies, references to coup plotters, etc. Labels that even spread from people who have no relation to this field.”
She further stated that the people of SYRIZA showed great tolerance towards Mr. Kasselakis, contrary to what the latter enjoys repeating. “At the February congress, indeed,” she continued, “I sounded the alarm, not with aspirations for the presidential chair, but because I believed I needed to send the message that ‘enough is enough,’ seeing the deterioration of the party, the distancing from its values and political lines transforming into something else. Of course, I later aligned with the decision, and we proceeded to the European elections, in which I fought, and evidence of that is that SYRIZA had the largest percentage in the region of Arta in Greece. Some, of course, pretended not to see this, placing me deliberately in a framework of division and intra-party conflict, adhering to the logic of constructing internal enemies that the former president followed, attributing to me personal ambition and goal. Obviously, I have no relation to this myth, nor have I ever chosen the role of intra-party opposition for myself.”
“Therefore, there was tolerance towards the person of Kasselakis. We tried, we discussed, we opposed with the aim of achieving the best possible political relationship. Our disagreements were mainly ideological,” clarified Ms. Gerovasili.
“At this moment, it is a major issue of identity and even existential character how we will reach the internal party elections. By the end of November, the terms of political play and dialogue within SYRIZA must change. As far as I’m concerned, I want to contribute to changing the tone and stance so that we can talk about political stakes. Therefore, it is critical how the majority of SYRIZA (the same majority that supported the no-confidence motion, the same majority that recently supported S. Kasselakis) will stand in front of a substantive discussion that we owe ourselves to have, without falling into the trap of the few but loud supporters of Kasselakis in a fan-like way that often slips into rhetoric we find in far-right circles.”
Regarding the possible scenarios for Kasselakis’ victory or not in the elections and his own moves or those of his supporters, or the dissenters with the former president, O. Gerovasili stated that these are matters that will be assessed in the future. “Personally, I do not belong to those who operate divisively. I wish to contribute to the coexistence of all of us on the basis of unity and agreement. However, the fact that this was not achieved during the previous period is the responsibility of Kasselakis’s side. He must also answer these questions because he bears the main responsibility for where we are today.” At this moment, however, she added, “I believe we must do everything to ensure that Mr. Kasselakis is not elected again, and I will rally for this political battle.”
When asked later about the individuals who would run in the internal party elections, Olga Gerovasili responded that there are going to be announcements next week, while she expressed her opinion that it would be better if there were one candidate and, closing the topic, emphasized that “today we are here to move forward with our eyes on the major issues that are now existential in nature.”
Finally, when asked about the future relationship with the New Left, O. Gerovasili replied that “such a discussion has not yet begun; therefore, any comment would be hasty at this moment,” adding that “Our collective decision is that SYRIZA addresses the public from the democratic center to the left. Thus, we have been moving for some years now aiming for cooperation among progressive forces as a solution for the next day in the country. This is our publicly expressed political position, and I serve it.”