Greek Politics
Kasselakis completes stunning victory, taking SYRIZA into uncharted territory
Stefanos Kasselakis completed on Sunday night his astounding ascendancy to SYRIZA’s leadership less than a month after announcing his candidacy and only a few months before being named on the party’s state list of parliamentary candidates, which marked his first exposure to Greek politics and voters.
Tension peaks as SYRIZA candidates enter last stages of contest
SYRIZA’s leadership race is heading for a tense finish, which suggests whoever wins on Sunday will have a tough job to maintain party unity in the wake of the contest between Efi Achtsioglou and Stefanos Kasselakis.
Controversial labour law set to usher in radical changes to employment practices
New Democracy is moving ahead with draft legislation set to introduce sweeping changes to employment law. The bill, which introduces controversial concepts such as “zero hours” contracts, has been condemned by most opposition parties and labour unions in the latest dispute over workplace rights
Tension builds in SYRIZA leadership race as govt moves ahead with wage maturities
The tension surrounding the SYRIZA leadership race is building, but there seems little prospect of either candidate revealing more about their political positions as they are both focussing on what they claim is subterfuge aimed at undermining their candidacies.
Outsider Kasselakis on track to lead SYRIZA after securing key backers
Support is growing for Stefanos Kasselakis leading up to the run-off for the SYRIZA leadership after several key party figures declared their support for the upstart candidate.
Insurgent campaign from Kasselakis puts shock SYRIZA leadership win in touching distance
US-based entrepreneur Stefanos Kasselakis has sprung a major surprise by coming from virtually nowhere in political terms to win the first round of SYRIZA’s leadership race, which will be decided next Sunday when he faces off against former labour minister Efi Achtsioglou, who came second.
Under-fire PM pledges civil defence improvements following summer of destruction
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has pledged to address the weaknesses exposed by the state machinery’s flawed response to natural disasters this summer as his government attempts to overcome the negative sentiment stirred up by the wildfires and flooding that affected much of the country over the last few weeks.
Poll suggests mood souring for government, SYRIZA leadership race wide open
The first major opinion poll in the wake of the recent flooding reflects how the public mood has soured for the government, while it also suggests that the SYRIZA leadership vote may not end up being a one-horse race.
Reshuffle and handouts put on ice as New Democracy closes ranks ahead of local elections
The political reverberations of a summer of natural disasters have forced yet another change of course on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has ahead of him the difficult tasks of delivering a much-diminished economic programme at Thessaloniki and uniting his party to fight the upcoming local and regional elections.
PM gathers funds to deal with aftermath of floods as political problem grows more acute
Despite announcing on Tuesday that up to 2.25 billion euros of EU funds would be made available to deal with the aftermath of the flooding in Thessaly, the Greek government remained on shaky political ground domestically.