New Left (Greece)

New Left
Νέα Αριστερά
AbbreviationNE.A.
PresidentAlexis Haritsis
Parliamentary group leaderAlexis Haritsis
Founded4 December 2023 (as a parliamentary group)
3 March 2024 (as a party)
Registered5 December 2023
Split fromSyriza
IdeologyDemocratic socialism[1]
Political positionLeft-wing
European Parliament groupThe Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL
Colours
  •   Red
  •   Purple
Hellenic Parliament
11 / 300
European Parliament
0 / 21
Website
neaaristera.gr

The New Left (NA; Greek: Νέα Αριστερά, romanized: Néa Aristerá) is a left-wing[2] democratic socialist[1] political party[3] in the Hellenic Parliament. It was founded on 4 December 2023 by eleven independent MPs who left the Syriza party. The president of the parliamentary group is Alexis Haritsis.[4] The New Left officially became a party on 3 March 2024 after its founding conference.

History

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After the resignation of Alexis Tsipras as president of Syriza, and the subsequent election of Stefanos Kasselakis to replace him in September 2023, there was an internal crisis in the party. The internal party groups "Umbrella" and "6+6" criticized Kasselakis's attempt to move the party towards the center. Kasselakis is considered to be more moderate than Tsipras, wanting the party to emulate the Democratic Party in the United States, a social-liberal party.[5] He was criticized by some Syriza members for his previous support of the centre-right party New Democracy, which currently has a majority in the Hellenic Parliament and is opposed by Syriza.[6][7] The 6+6 faction included deputy Effie Achtsioglou, who finished as runner-up to Kasselakis in the leadership election.

This conflict eventually culminated in the withdrawal of the "Umbrella" faction from the party[8] and the removal of two MPs considered close to it (Peti Perka and Euclid Tsakalotos) on Kasselakis's orders on 13 November 2023.[9] Ten days later, the "6+6" group[10] and nine MPs from it (Sia Anagnostopoulou, Effie Achtsioglou, Chousein Zeimpek, Nasos Iliopoulos, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, Meropi Tzoufi, Ozgur Ferhat, Theano Fotiou, and Alexis Haritsis) withdrew from Syriza.[11]

On 4 December 2023, the eleven independent MPs announced the name and logo of their new party at a scheduled event.[12] The next day, the parliamentary group was officially announced in the Hellenic Parliament.[13] MEP Dimitrios Papadimoulis announced his affiliation with the group the same day.[14]

On 1 March 2024, the party's founding conference was held in Athens. The foundation declaration summarised the fundamental positions of the party and announced the establishment of a Transitional Coordination Committee with 238 members.[15][16]

On 9 June 2024, in the European Parliament elections, the party failed to retain its MEPs, Dimitrios Papadimoulis and Stelios Kouloglou, receiving only 2.45% of the vote, and failing to reach the 3% threshold.[17][18]

Election results

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European Parliament

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European Parliament
Election Votes % ±pp Seats won +/− Rank Leader EP Group
2024 97,554 2.45 New
0 / 21
 New 10th Alexis Haritsis −

References

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  1. ^ a b "«Νέα Αριστερά» το όνομα των «11»". in.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  2. ^ "Greece". Europe Elects. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  3. ^ Stamatoukou, Eleni (5 December 2023). "After Quitting SYRIZA, Greek Leftist MPs Launch New Party". Balkan Insight. Athens. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Βουλή: Εγένετο… Νέα Αριστερά – Κατέθεσαν επιστολή στον Τασούλα για συγκρότηση ΚΟ". ΤΑ ΝΕΑ (in Greek). 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  5. ^ Smith, Helena (2023-09-25). "Stefanos Kasselakis: ex-banker who lit up Greek politics to lead Syriza". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  6. ^ ""Δεν ήρθε, τον φέρανε, το παιδί δεν κάνει" – Λάβρος Τζουμάκας κατά Κασσελάκη". ΤΑ ΝΕΑ (in Greek). 2023-10-20. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  7. ^ "Ο Στέφανος Κασσελάκης με τα δικά του λόγια". ΕΦΣΥΝ (in Greek). 2023-10-21. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  8. ^ "Εκτός ΣΥΡΙΖΑ η "Ομπρέλα" – Το κείμενο αποχώρησης". Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ (in Greek). 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  9. ^ "Κασσελάκης: Εντολή για διαγραφή Πέρκα και Τσακαλώτου από την ΚΟ του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ". in.gr (in Greek). 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  10. ^ "Εκτός ΣΥΡΙΖΑ οι "6+6" της Εφης Αχτσιόγλου – Το κείμενο αποχώρησης". Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ (in Greek). 2023-11-23. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  11. ^ "ΣΥΡΙΖΑ: Αποχωρούν 9 βουλευτές μεταξύ των οποίων Αχτσιόγλου, Χαρίτσης, Ηλιόπουλος". www.naftemporiki.gr (in Greek). 2023-11-23. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  12. ^ ""Νέα Αριστερά": Αυτό είναι το όνομα της Κ.Ο. των 11 "πρώην" του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ – Το νέο λογότυπο". CNN.gr (in Greek). 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  13. ^ "Κουβέντα". ΤΑ ΝΕΑ (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  14. ^ "Δ. Παπαδημούλης: Θα εκπροσωπώ τη νέα Κ.Ο. στο Ευρωκοινοβούλιο". Η ΝΑΥΤΕΜΠΟΡΙΚΗ (in Greek). 2023-12-03.
  15. ^ "Νέα Αριστερά: Και επίσημα κόμμα - Τα μέλη του Πανελλαδικού Συντονιστικού". ΕΘΝΟΣ (in Greek). 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  16. ^ "Νέα Αριστερά με ιδρυτική διακήρυξη". ΤΑ ΝΕΑ (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  17. ^ "Αποτελέσματα ευρωεκλογών - Χαρίτσης: Η Νέα Αριστερά είναι εδώ και συνεχίζει" protothema.gr (in Greek) 09-06-2024
  18. ^ "Χαρίτσης για Ευρωεκλογές 2024: Αρνητικό το αποτέλεσμα για τη Νέα Αριστερά, κανείς δεν δικαιούται να πανηγυρίζει" iefimerida.gr (in Greek) 09-06-2024
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