Fifty-seven members of main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance's Central Committee, including many former ministers and MPs, on Thursday announced their departure from the party in a public message. They were all members of the "Six plus six" faction of the party and included the MPs Sia Anagnostopoulou, Efi Achtsioglou, Nasos Iliopoulos, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, Meropi Tzoufi, Ozgur Ferhat, Theano Fotiou and Alexis Haritsis.
Their statement strongly criticised the new party leader Stefanos Kasselakis - who prevailed over Achtsioglou and other candidates in an open election by the grassroots membership - saying that his election had been democratic but his subsequent actions were "antidemocratic".
"He is breaking SYRIZA-PA apart and converting it into a shapeless party, while at the same time his political message transmits a mixture of contradictory opinions without any programmatic depth," the text said, adding that "SYRIZA-PA was sinking into disrepute and contempt."
Those signing the document acknowledged that they bore a share of responsibility "for tolerating problematic phenomena that led to the crisis in the party, for the sake of unity," while adding that "our Left does not confine itself to the role of a reliable opposition, it is the Left that contends for the government."
The text notes that the situation that has become established within SYRIZA-PA "does not permit us to defend, implement and renew the programme and policy plan on the basis of which we sought the support and vote of the citizens in the recent elections."
The group said that they were now taking a step that looks to the future and that their ambition is to contribute "to the creation of a leftist and progressive space that will shape the responses and the policy plan that addresses the concerns and hopes of the citizens."