A significant internal shock has hit SYRIZA after the director of the newspaper Avgi, Spyros Sourmelidis, resigned following a controversial Sunday front page that placed former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in direct contrast with the party.
According to an official statement from Koumoundourou, the headline “did not reflect the positions of SYRIZA Progressive Alliance.”
The disputed front page carried the title “SYRIZA–Tsipras: Parallel Lives”, suggesting political divergence between the party under Sokratis Famellos and the former PM. It also referenced a “recomposition of the progressive space by Famellos–Haritsis” and “cooperation signals from PASOK.”
Regarding Tsipras himself, the article claimed that the presentation of his new book “Ithaca” was a “prelude to a new political party.” It added that Tsipras “has chosen an exclusively personal path, without jointly deciding with others.”
This interpretation stood in stark contrast to the official party line. SYRIZA clarified that Sokratis Famellos had never suggested any confrontation with Tsipras, nor had he distanced himself from efforts to unify the progressive political spectrum.
Tensions had already been escalating in recent days following the seating arrangement and symbolism at the presentation of Tsipras’s book “Ithaca.” Famellos stated from Parliament that “SYRIZA remains committed to rebuilding the progressive space,” while the party’s Secretary Stergios Kalpakis criticized what he called “oversimplification.”
At the same time, Alexis Haritsis, leader of the New Left, expressed support for a “People’s Front,” but one not dependent on a single political figure. The Secretary of the New Left, Gavriil Sakellaridis, also judged Tsipras’s proposals as unconvincing.
The controversy eventually led Sourmelidis to step down, with SYRIZA moving quickly to distance itself from the front page’s political framing.
