Gabriel Sakellariadis, Secretary of New Left and acting party president, launched sharp criticism against ELAS (Hellenic Left Coalition), the new political initiative led by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Speaking on Tuesday, 23 June 2026, on SKAI 100.3 radio, Sakellariadis argued that the reconstitution of the Left cannot be achieved through personality-driven strategies or political ambiguity.
A Distinct Left Presence
Sakellariadis stressed that New Left aims for a strong and clearly defined Left presence in both Parliament and society. In contrast, he said ELAS replicates past mistakes — attempting to appeal simultaneously to disparate, often contradictory, audiences. This, he warned, undermines coherence and weakens political credibility.
Rebuilding the Left Amid Shifting Alliances
He underscored that political forces historically committed to a robust Left can and should pursue joint actions, dialogue, and broader efforts toward renewal. That need, he added, has grown more urgent amid a broader societal and political shift toward more conservative orientations.
‘Kasselakis Didn’t Fall from the Sky’
Sakellariadis also addressed the wave of departures from SYRIZA following Stefanos Kasselakis’ election as party leader. He clarified that Kasselakis’ election was not the root cause — but rather the trigger. ‘Stefanos Kasselakis didn’t fall from the sky. He wasn’t a comet passing by and seizing the party,’ Sakellariadis said, describing a long-standing internal culture within SYRIZA.
That culture, he explained, had elevated each successive leader as a ‘Messiah’ — a charismatic lone warrior destined to confront Kyriakos Mitsotakis single-handedly. Sakellariadis called this a deeply flawed political mindset: one that depoliticises party life, replacing programme, collective processes, and grassroots engagement with an endless search for the ‘right’ leader.
According to him, Kasselakis found fertile ground in that environment and built his own political project upon it — meaning his departure could not automatically restore SYRIZA to its former state. ‘Time didn’t freeze during the Kasselakis period,’ he noted.
Critique of the ‘Beauty Contest’ Logic
Sakellariadis also drew parallels with developments in the UK Labour Party, criticising the notion that political success hinges primarily on selecting the most charismatic or media-savvy figure. While acknowledging the value of leadership that listens to its social base, he warned that an ongoing obsession with popularity risks turning politics into a ‘beauty contest’ — shaped less by ideas and more by social media logic.
This, he cautioned, is a ‘double-edged sword’: efforts at renewal and accountability can easily devolve into full-blown personalisation and the depoliticisation of public life.