Secretary of Central Committee of SYRIZA S. Kalpakis Interview

Interview with the Secretary of the Central Committee of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance, Stergios Kalpakis, in the newspaper Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών Weekend with journalist Nikos Papadimitriou

S. Kalpakis: “A strong progressive pole against the New Democracy”

1. The Political Secretariat of SYRIZA–PS gave the green light to collaborating with Alexis Tsipras. What factors contributed to this change of position?

Mr Papadimitriou, I was on air during a television show the moment Alexis Tsipras’s resignation became public. My instinctive reaction was that there should not be confrontation and that we should insist on the major issue, which is consolidations within the progressive space. A little while later, this was also the spirit of the statement by Socratis Famellos. So there was no change in the party’s central line. What the decision of the Political Secretariat added is the recognition that new facts have been created which no one can ignore. It’s critical for political spaces, at such turning‑points, to avoid the danger of ostrich‑behaviour, because this choice can lead them – even unintentionally – into self‑marginalisation. And our space played and continues to play a critical role in the country’s political life, because it always had its gaze fixed on the big picture, on society and its contemporary needs. In this context, SYRIZA–PS recognises the need for political change, recognises that the progressive space has entered a process of re‑composition and has an obligation to play a creative and synthetic role in this, taking responsibility and participating in initiatives so that a strong progressive pole against New Democracy can emerge.
 

2. What messages did you receive from the party base that led you to this decision, and what do you say to comrades who worry about yet another split?

Knowing our party well, I tell you with certainty that the line which says “No confrontation with Alexis Tsipras. Parallel currents aiming for a large meeting in the progressive space” is the one holding together our social and organisational forces and is the overwhelming majority in the party base. With Alexis Tsipras as President, SYRIZA evolved from a small party of the radical Left into a party of the governing Left and a central pillar of the progressive movement, overturning the political balances of four decades as shaped after the Metapolitefsi. If therefore we had adopted a high‑tone line or, worse yet, embraced calls for a split, we would have faced powerful centrifugal tendencies. That is what I perceive when I tour the country and our organisations. To say it differently, Mr Papadimitriou: the people of SYRIZA – in both the narrow and the broader sense – are tired of tensions. They want finally syntheses in order to form a strong progressive alternative governing proposal.
 

3. Why do you estimate the government introduced the amendment concerning the monument of the Unknown Soldier? Is it another shift to the right, an attempt to change the agenda or simply an under‑estimation of the political cost?

All of it. Mr Mitsotakis’s arrogance did not allow him to see that he no longer can get away with whatever he wants without cost, and that he is delegitimised in the consciousness of the vast majority of citizens. At the same time, it is certain that he tried – not exactly to change – but to shift the agenda. From his abominable handling of the hunger strike of Panos Routsi and the defeat he eventually suffered in the just struggle of the father, into a discussion on the symbolism of the place where the hunger strike was being conducted and next to it massive gatherings, with a clear aim to provoke conservative, nationalist, far‑right audiences, with patriotism‑exploitation and repression. After all, I remind you, Mrs Latinopoulou first raised the specific issue. The conclusion is that Mr Mitsotakis, faced with his dead‑ends, chooses the slippery descent of division, authoritarianism and toxicity. I estimate, however, that the vast majority of Greek society, which stood beside Panos Routsi and all the relatives of the victims of the Tempi tragedy, demanding truth and justice, will in practice cancel this abominable amendment.
 

4. The OPEKEPE scandal, combined with the sheep‑pox (lumpy skin disease) issue – what future do they hold for the agricultural world?

Ominous, if there is not an immediate political change and a progressive government with a serious plan for the primary sector does not come. Mr Papadimitriou, the primary sector is a sector of the economy with European funds secured every year. It does not face a resource shortage issue, but an issue of sound management, because instead of the funds going to where they should, to the real farmers, they go to the frappés and other blue cronies. It is as simple as that. Due to the huge blue scandal of OPEKEPE, the agricultural world faces delays, reduced payments and loss of funds. Here you add also the government’s inertia in dealing with the sheep‑pox, where if a comprehensive plan like the one proposed by SYRIZA–PS is not introduced, the consequences will be catastrophic for livestock farmers.
 

5. How can the workers react to the 13‑hour working day?

The Mitsotakis government continues its attack on labour by passing yet another anti‑labour law that brings 13‑hour employment for one employer, instead of reducing working time, collective bargaining, wage increases, job security. At the same time, it attempts to pretend to tame inflation with measures that are a mockery, like the reduction of prices on certain codes, instead of zeroing VAT on food and medicine, reducing excise on fuels, breaking the cartels that profiteer and tackling housing‑costs effectively, while the situation in the national health system remains tragic mainly because of the huge staff shortages. For all of this, the only way for workers and indeed for the large social majority is massive participation in mobilisations, in organised spaces and the creation of the conditions for political change.

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