The Central Committee of SYRIZA has settled on a model of collective leadership. Following the election of Rena Dourou as chair of the Parliamentary Group, Nikos Pappas was elected secretary of the Central Committee, with Natasa Gara serving as deputy secretary Natasha Gkara was elected Deputy Secretary of the Central Committee, and Giannis Boulekos was elected Secretary for Organizational Affairs.
Later today, the newly established Political Secretariat will appoint Pavlos Polakis as secretary for strategic planning. It will appoint Dimitris Melidis as the new press secretary and Giorgos Panagiotopoulos as press and communications secretary or deputy secretary.
It will also appoint the campaign committee.
In a statement following his election, Nikos Pappas said: «I would like to express my gratitude and sincere thanks to my comrades for the trust they have placed in me.
I have a deep sense of responsibility. I know very well where we are starting from in our reconstruction. I firmly believe, however, that the current image of SYRIZA does not do justice to our party or our political movement, and we will all work together to do our very best to rebuild our movement, to rally once more, and to revitalize a political dynamic that, unfortunately, had been pushed aside and neglected, leading to political inaction.
That is our primary goal. And we are getting started and getting to work, beginning as early as tomorrow to shape our efforts and our strategy for our candidate slates and the election campaign. For the comprehensive restructuring of our movement, to reshape the political landscape once again, and to make the modern Left a leading force.
»I am fully aware of the responsibility and the challenges. I have deep faith in our ideas, our program, and the people who are persevering and can ensure a new recovery.".
The text of the Central Committee’s decision states: «The formation of a collective leadership until the national elections is a deliberate political choice. It responds to the need to give practical expression to collective decision-making, to make full use of the party’s entire leadership potential, and to ensure that the coming period will be based on unity, cooperation, and collective responsibility.”.
The collective leadership will take charge of the overall coordination of political and organizational preparations ahead of the national elections. Its mission will be not only to develop the election strategy, but also to organize the party’s outreach efforts, promoting our platform, and formulating a comprehensive strategy for political engagement throughout the country.
The top priority is to immediately begin the process of drawing up our candidate slates. The selection of candidates will reflect our strategy of renewal, social representation, and harnessing all of the country’s creative forces.
SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance will be participating in the upcoming elections. »We remain steadfast in our strategy of broader progressive alliances, but we recognize that these can only be built on the basis of equality, a shared program, and collective processes.”.
