SYRIZA has entered a new phase of uncertainty following Sokratis Famellos’s resignation from the party presidency—just over a year and a half after his election on 24 November 2024. He assumed leadership at one of the most difficult moments in the party’s recent history—and now steps down at an even more critical inflection point, with SYRIZA caught between pursuing an independent path and potential convergence with Alexis Tsipras’s new political initiative.
A Technocratic Leader Turned Party Head
Famellos announced his resignation on the afternoon of Thursday, 9 July 2026. Born in Athens in 1966, he holds a degree in chemical engineering and postgraduate studies in environmental planning, having studied at both the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Hellenic Open University. His professional and academic career centered on environmental issues—including water resources, recycling, waste management, and renewable energy.
From 2001 to 2013, he served as Director of Development at ANATOLIKI S.A., a local development company for Eastern Thessaloniki. Before entering national politics, Famellos was active in local government: he ran as mayoral candidate for Thermi in 2014 under the ‘Citizen Intervention’ coalition, and later served as municipal councillor, deputy mayor, and president of the municipality’s cultural, environmental, and sports enterprise.
He also held long-standing roles within the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), including positions in both the Thessaloniki branch (TEE/TKM) and the TEE’s national delegation—reflecting a career marked by technocratic expertise and trade union engagement before fully transitioning into party politics.
Parliamentary Career and Rising Influence
Famellos was first elected MP for Thessaloniki B with SYRIZA in January 2015, and re-elected in September 2015, July 2019, and June 2023. In October 2015, he became SYRIZA’s parliamentary spokesperson; in April 2016, he chaired the parliamentary investigative committee on party and media financing. The following November, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy in Tsipras’s second government.
After SYRIZA’s 2019 electoral defeat, he took on the role of shadow minister for Environment and Energy. In July 2023, he was unanimously elected president of SYRIZA’s parliamentary group—though that tenure ended abruptly in late August, when he was removed by then-party leader Stefanos Kasselakis.
Presidency in a Minefield
Famellos’s election as party president in November 2024 came during a period of deep introspection for SYRIZA. He presented himself as a low-profile figure committed to institutional continuity and collective decision-making—a stabilising presence for a party seeking renewed seriousness, credibility, and political direction.
In his own assessment, his leadership oversaw key organisational reforms: holding a party congress, electing new internal bodies, renewing representation roles, relaunching the ‘Nikos Poulantzas’ Institute, and advancing financial consolidation of the party and its affiliated structures.