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SYRIZA is once again in turmoil, showing signs of disintegration despite official claims of an “orderly course” and readiness to fight the next election.

Socrates Famellos’s resignation didn’t ease tensions but instead shifted the internal balance of power. When six officials resigned from the Political Secretariat on Monday afternoon (13/7), it triggered a chain reaction, effectively putting the “kommenoi” faction (Polakis, Pappas, Dourou) in the driver’s seat of the party’s top governing body.

Parliamentary group meets to elect a secretary

With conflict over the legitimacy of internal party procedures, leadership, and the party’s future all shaking the organization, SYRIZA’s parliamentary group meets Wednesday (15/7) to elect a new secretary.

According to reports, Yiannis Amanatidis is the clear favorite; once elected, he would be expected to send a letter to House Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis requesting Pavlos Polakis’s reinstatement to SYRIZA’s parliamentary group.

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Kaklamanis has already indicated he would accept Polakis’s reinstatement under an expansive reading of parliamentary rules, given the party currently has no elected president. After the parliamentary group meets, the next step is a Central Committee session set for Saturday (18/7).

A wave of departures

Before then, SYRIZA’s parliamentary strength is expected to shrink further. Roughly 15 of the party’s 23 lawmakers are estimated to leave in the coming period, some choosing to give up their seats outright, others opting first to become independents.

These are deputies unwilling, or unable, to go along with the minority faction’s plan to run SYRIZA against Alexis Tsipras’s new party, ELAS, in the next election.

On Tuesday (14/7), the first three lawmakers walked out. Andreas Panagiotopoulos went first, announcing he would continue as an independent MP for Achaea, notifying the House Speaker by letter that he was leaving SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance’s parliamentary group.

Giorgos Gavrilos followed, informing Speaker Kaklamanis of his decision to become independent while remaining in parliament. Giorgos Psychogios, an MP for Corinthia, then announced he too was leaving the parliamentary group to sit as an independent.