Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addressed the SYRIZA Political Secretariat on Monday afternoon and asked for an emergency party convention as soon as possible.
In a speech that called for the protection of the party’s unity, Tsipras recognized that there are divisions within the party and said he wants the convention to bring them to the surface.
“During this journey, the differences in strategic orientation within the majority of the parliamentary group that approved the government’s main policy direction and the minority that expressed a different opinion became visible,” Tsipras said and asked for the emergency convention to clarify these differences.
SYRIZA has been plagued with internal strife even before Tsipras struck a preliminary bailout deal with international creditors in Brussels on July 13. Since then, more than 30 SYRIZA MPs have voted against bailout legislation twice in the Greek Parliament and the Prime Minister has reshuffled the cabinet.
According to government sources, Tsipras also said he wants a feedback on the government’s’ first six months in office and an assessment of what it has managed to achieve.
To this extent, Tsipras reportedly set three questions that should be answered. Whether the government did everything it could and if it made mistakes, whether there was a realistic and viable alternative and what that would look like, and finally, what should the Left do with the power it possesses.
The Prime Minister also emphasized the role the current Greek leftist government has played in reshaping the conversation about and the perception of the Eurozone.
At the same time, he called on the party to combat tax evasion, corruption and other fundamental problems in Greece and take this unprecedented opportunity to change the country.
Tsipras also claimed that his government has been successful in launching an open discussion on the matter of the Greek debt.
“The government is obliged to exhaust all options so that there is a sustainable solution for this issue and a manifestation of the strict commitments,” he said.
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