The incident at the meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Organizational Committee of the Conference (KOES) of SYRIZA was referenced by Giannis Ragousis, a member of the Political Secretariat of SYRIZA, while speaking to OPEN and the show “Hour of Greece”. This occurred after a disagreement between Stefanos Kasselakis and party officials, particularly with the “Tsipras guard”.
What happened at the meeting
He stated, “This entire situation was completely unjustified because, in reality, nothing more than some issues were raised that members of the Political Secretariat felt it necessary to express their opinion on.”
He explained that he requested a written proposal from Stefanos Kasselakis regarding the major changes he intends to make in SYRIZA. “A large Congress has been announced, and we do not know what changes SYRIZA wants to implement.” “It was raised as an opinion, not as a proposal for voting, nor does anyone want to change the decision of the body,” he said.
“It is not in SYRIZA’s interest to hold a congress on the day of PASOK’s elections”
According to him: “It was mentioned that another date should have been chosen during a statement due to the elections at PASOK. This is the reasoning for not holding a congress that day. This is the right thing. It does not serve SYRIZA’s interests to hold a congress that ends on Sunday afternoon when the PASOK processes will overshadow this congress.”
“If there had been a retraction from Kasselakis, we would not have left”
Referring to Stefanos Kasselakis’ statement, he mentioned: “The problem arose when the president of SYRIZA made this well-known statement, ‘those who do not want to stay can leave the party.’ If this was a bad moment for a person, it will be explained as such, and we will move on. If this was a political position saying ‘anyone who dares to express a political opinion in the bodies and in anything SYRIZA tries to do from now on’ then the problem would be very serious. This is a matter of Democracy, about respecting political opinion. If there had been a retraction at that moment, we would not have left.”
“We have not been notified of a new meeting, but when we meet again, the first issue of discussion will obviously be this.” When asked if he could be excluded from the new congress, he stated that “it cannot be that way.”
“SYRIZA has no room for purges”
Asked whether there is a disposition for “purges” in SYRIZA, Mr. Ragousis answered, “I do not want to think that way. I believe that SYRIZA no longer has such margins. It has come under very difficult circumstances. The results of the European elections were not good at all; we changed leadership, and instead of increasing our percentages, they decreased. We lost 350,000 voters. If anyone has such thoughts, they must abandon them quickly because they will only do harm.”
“The Attica-Pagkritia agreement is beneficial”
“We remember the case of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008. My opinion is that if Attica and Pagkritia do not proceed with this agreement, they will be like two Lehman Brothers at the foundations of the banking system,” Mr. Ragousis stated, supporting the agreement despite Stefanos Kasselakis talking about a scandal.
In this direction, with the sole aim of serving the interests of the Greek people, depositors, and workers, “this is an agreement that especially a party that has governed cannot, in my opinion, lightly reject it,” argued Giannis Ragousis. He also made it clear that “this issue has not been discussed in either the party organs or in the parliamentary group.” On the contrary, a draft text came to the last meeting of the Political Secretariat, and “there I had the opportunity to express my differing opinion,” noted the former minister.
“I found no argument or element that undermines the great importance the agreement has for the Greek people,” continued Mr. Ragousis, adding that “the agreement is beneficial,” with the sole reservation that it is proposed by this government of reduced credibility, at a time when the rapporteur of SYRIZA “Mr. Karameros did not say that SYRIZA opposes, he said that SYRIZA reserves its position,” pointed out the former minister. “I want to hope that this agreement will not be rejected by a governing party,” he concluded.
Disagreement over fiscal promises
It is worth noting that during the recent meeting of the Political Secretariat of SYRIZA, Giannis Ragousis expressed a resounding objection to the …the commitments of SYRIZA’s program.
According to confirmed information from Capital.gr, during his statement at the Political Secretariat, Mr. Ragousis specifically mentioned: “You will not have and will not have my agreement for the overall package of fiscal announcements” of SYRIZA and Kasselakis.
From: capital.gr
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