The launch of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's new ELAS party has triggered immediate political fallout across Greece's center-left: the New Left parliamentary group has lost its official status, SYRIZA is bracing for mass defections ahead of emergency leadership meetings, and Athens Mayor Haris Doukas has publicly broken with PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis over whether to seek a coalition with Mr. Tsipras after the 2027 elections.
Six New Left lawmakers — including Nasos Iliopoulos, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos and Theano Fotiou — declared themselves independents, stripping the group led by Alexis Charitsis of its parliamentary standing. Former minister Effie Achtsioglou resigned her seat entirely, fulfilling Mr. Tsipras's condition that ELAS affiliates hold no current parliamentary mandate.
The ecological party Kosmos, led by Petros Kokkalis, is expected to dissolve and merge into ELAS.
The shock to SYRIZA is the most structurally significant. With polls placing ELAS in second place nationally, SYRIZA's Political Secretariat will meet Thursday and its Central Committee on Saturday.
Factions led by Pavlos Polakis and Nikos Pappas are reportedly pushing for broader alignment with Mr. Tsipras, with Nikos Kotzias floated as a possible transitional figure.
Party leader Sokratis Famellos faces what internal sources describe as potential mass resignations.
At PASOK, Mr. Doukas publicly contradicted Mr. Androulakis's position of strict party autonomy, advocating for an electoral coalition with Mr. Tsipras in the event of a hung parliament — a direct challenge to the party leadership from one of its most prominent elected figures.
The realignment comes within days of ELAS's launch, illustrating the speed at which Mr. Tsipras's return has reshaped a political opposition that had been gradually stabilizing around three distinct poles since his departure from SYRIZA.
By Antonis Telopoulos