ATHENS

Eighty-seven lawmakers and executives from Greece's left-wing main opposition SYRIZA party rebelled against President Stefanos Kasselakis, who has come under increasing criticism for the party's poor performance in the EU Parliament elections.

In a joint open letter addressed to the party president, they said, “Despite the huge drop in (governing) New Democracy (ND) rates, SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance lost strength, and the progressive (political) space as a whole did not strengthen. Instead, we had record abstention and the rise of the extreme right.”

Arguing that the EU Parliament elections results obligate the party to take appropriate steps, they added, "The cooperation of progressive forces is a majority social request, and we are obliged to respond to this request by forming a large progressive alliance, a front at the parliamentary and social level, which will win the ND in the next national elections, whenever they may take place.”

The letter also accused the party leadership of applying divisive tactics, firings and targeting executives for speaking out, all of which are not consistent with the party's culture of dialogue.

They slammed the decision to suspend the daily printing of the party's newspaper Avgi without consulting the competent party bodies.