We are concerned with the Congress of SYRIZA; Yes, regardless of what each of us believes and votes for. Parties are a building block of democracy and internal developments within them affect our lives.

Let's start with the semantics: The most high-ranking party that sent a representative to greet was from the Southwest! He sent the party secretary Mr. Pavlos Marinakis. We recall that Mr. Marinakis had made at least one misplaced tweet in the past («Tsipras, if we lived in the civil war, you would go through me»). The KKE did not send anyone (although it had sent someone to the ND congress in 2017), while the KINAL limited itself to sending the press spokesman Mr. Dimitris Manzo. The press spokesman of MP25, Michalis Kritharidis, the co-chair of the Ecological Greens, Katerina Andrikopoulou-Sakorafa and the head of the political movement PRATO also greeted the meeting, Nikos Kotzias (the only one who was enthusiastically received).

Is it good for the parties to discuss, even in this way? Yes, especially since the next election will be a simple proportional representation. Political culture and open channels of communication (regardless of their existing differences) is something we need in Greece.…

Let's go to the conference itself: The domination of Mr Tsipras was absolute and this is expected to become even more evident with the direct election by the party members of himself and the entire Central Committee.

Do citizens care about the way the leadership of SYRIZA will be elected? Probably not. But it certainly concerns them who will form the new leadership team of the party. As we say in journalistic «wells», the same team that lost in the 2019 elections cannot win in 2023 (or whenever the elections are held). As long as the coach (i.e. Mr.Tsipras) does not change, part (big or small) of the then leading team must change.

The two speeches of Mr.Tsipras at the conference (at the opening and the closing), predispose us to big changes, but this remains to be seen... SYRIZA who talk to Mr Tsipras, pointed out to me that the elections in KINAL (i.e. the fact that the «new» Mr. Androulakis against the «old» Mr. Papandreou and Loverdou), indicate that citizens want change in the country's political staff.

In all the conferences of all the parties, two are the main issues: The election of a new leadership and the political - ideological positioning of the party. The new SYRIZA leadership will be elected on May 15. As far as the second issue is concerned, there is a clear trend towards the election of the new leadership of the party. shift of SYRIZA from the radical left to the broader left with references to the centre-left. Personally, I noted Mr Tsipras' reference to the the need to change the production model (something new for SYRIZA, which can also be interpreted as a result of a shift to realism due to the previous four years of government).

Also, in the texts that became known, but also in the speeches of the cadres, there were for the first time references to taboo issues for the radical left to such an extent. The references to the role of the private sector of the economy, the words «balanced development» and «fair profit», were at the forefront of the debate, alongside traditional left-wing references to rights, equality, solidarity and environmental protection.

SYRIZA became a party more leaderly, but also less dependent on certain «groups». It remains dominantly on the left, but is making some «steps» towards the centre-left. However, it is the citizens« concern whether it will become a party closer to them, a party that can be effective, a party open to society and without the old »blinders". The statements at the Congress were positive. The actions? The answers will be given soon...

By Yannis Koronaiou