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SYRIZA party meeting ends with vote of new central committee secretary general GREEK NEWS March 2, 2104 Tassos Koronakis was elected secretary general of the majority ruling SYRIZA party's central committee and the political secretariat on Sunday, bringing to a conclusion the central committee's two-day meeting. Also elected were eleven who will serve on the newly-established political secretariat. Addressing the meeting earlier, SYRIZA leader and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on all party officials to work to "expand the influence of the party in the working-class families parts of Greek society, and said it was "inconceivable to have weak organisations in those neighbourhoods that are mostly populated by working-class families and their support comes close to 50 pct." He also said that SYRIZA should organise in every city and large village, and asked that the party become more operational and open to criticism. The meeting's agenda included an amendment by one of SYRIZA's component groups (Leftist Platform), which opposed the agreement reached between the government and the Eurogroup on extending the Greek loan, and called on Tsipras to promote his campaign promises instead. The amendment was voted down by 92 members, while 68 supported it and 5 gave a blank vote. <http://www.sofokleous10.gr/greek-news/302500-syriza-party-meeting-ends-with-vote-of-new-central-committee-secretary-general> SYRIZA central committee – part 2 by Zeta Katopodi Protothema News, Athens Sunday March 1 *The party’s committee is currently in session as from 09.00 am in the same stormy spirit* Following the completion of the talks, there will be a voting regarding the final outcome of the political decision and the relevant official document, as well as the election of the new General Secretary and the committee, whose members will be reduced. SYRIZA leadership has proposed that the committee consists of 11 members, the President and the General Secretary apart. More specifically, 4 members deriving from the presidential wing, 4 from the leftist branch and a single member representing each of the party’s lower political trends. Up until last night there has been intense background talks and political deliberation as far as the eventual document of the political agreement and the members of the secretary committee are concerned. What is more, the leftist branch’s intention was to deposit its own amendment within the final document, thus stating its own, distinctive views. Nevertheless, there has been ongoing effort in order to come up with a unique, single document. The new Secretary is Mr. Koronakis, as most trends within the party converge to his selection. During the first day of the committee’s assembly, there was sharp criticism concerning the Government’s negotiation with its EU partners in the Eurogroup agreement. Although the majority of party members seemed to sympathize with the predicament of the situation described by the PM in his opening speech, reservations were expressed, aimed mainly at two points, namely whether the final outcome was the best possible one and secondly what is to happen until June. Yet, even those expressing their reservations and objections, seemed overall content with the PM’s standpoints. They hold the view that Mr. Tsipras will exert all its efforts so as to efficiently apply his party’s program. It is also their view that he is willing to stand up to EU partners, to the point of a full blown clash should this be deemed necessary. Furthermore, there is also overall content stemming from the upcoming Government decision not to bring the deal to the Greek parliament. <http://en.protothema.gr/syriza-central-committee-continues> Central Committee SYRIZA Intelligent News, Athen 42 minute video of Tsipras speech to Syriza central committee (in Greek) including periodic video of the audience <https://intelligent-news.com/video/central-committee-syriza> SYRIZA’s Central Committee sends warning to leadership *The Left Platform expressed its major disagreement with the recent Eurogroup agreement* ToVima, Greece March 2, 2015 The Central Committee Summit concluded on Sunday afternoon with the election of Tasos Koronakis as the new Central Committee secretary [winning 102 votes out of 199 total] and the members of the Political Secretariat. The political secretariat is comprised of Nasos Iliopoulos, Alekos Kalyvis, Panos Lamprou, Stathis Leoutsakos, Yannis Bournous, Antonis Davanelos, Sofie Papadogianni, Christoforos Papadopoulos, Panagiotis Rigas, Rudi Rinaldi and Rania Svigou. During the Summit, the party’s leadership was challenged on the recent negotiations with Greece’s partners and creditors. The party leadership submitted a resolution incorporating its post-election choices and passed by a majority, however the Left Platform submitted its own resolution that was closer to SYRIZA’ election campaign promises. While this resolution was not voted, it received 40% approval, with 92 votes against, 68 in favor, while less than 10 votes were blank. In its resolution the Left Platform declared that it disagrees with the recent Eurogroup agreement and the reforms that were agreed between the two sides, a it believes that they conflict with the party’s election proclamations. The Left Platform stressed the need to decide on critical matters after debating them in the collective party institutions. This development was a first warning for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who will now have to consider how his political choices may affect party relations. The tension during the Summit was more than apparent, with the debate between the two opposing sides in SYRIZA often escalating. <http://www.tovima.gr/en/article/?aid=681621> SYRIZA hardliners rebel over bailout extension A motion critical of the loan extension that was tabled during a meeting of SYRIZA's central committee failed to pass, but shows the number of dissenters is growing. Times of Change, Greece March 1, 2015 Members of the hardline ‘Left Platform’ within SYRIZA made plain their opposition to the loan extension deal struck with Greece’s lenders by tabling an amendment critical of the agreement during a meeting of the party’s central committee. The amendment is critical both of the extension agreement and the list of reforms to which Greece committed to implementing that was assembled during the Eurogroup meetings. According to the SYRIZA officials opposed to the measures, the two texts represent an ‘undesirable compromise for our country and are far away, in a different direction or even opposed to SYRIZA’s policy statements.’ The opposition by the Left Platform to the agreement is no great surprise. The leader of SYRIZA’s Left Platform and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis has been critical of the deal and has made public statements at odds with those made by other ministers, most notably with regards to privatizations. While the government has committed to continuing privatizations that have been completed or are underway, Lafazanis has vowed to halt all privatizations in the energy sector. What will be particularly concerning for Alexis Tsipras is that other SYRIZA members not of the Left Platform also supported the motion condemning the loan extension agreement. Specifically the amendment was defeated with 68 votes in favour, 92 against and 5 blank votes. The amendment writes that the government, “despite the Eurogroup agreements must proceed on the basis of policies that will have the main priority the stable implementation of pre-election pledges and government policy statements.” That however will be difficult without external funding given the dire state of the government’s finances and projections for revenue shortfalls. However with the dissenting voices in his party also on the rise, sticking with the agreement tentatively struck with Greece’s European partners to secure additional funding may also prove equally difficult for the prime minister. <http://www.thetoc.gr/eng/politics/article/syriza-hardliners-rebel-over-bailout-extension> _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
