Dimitris Koutsoumpas has been elected as new general secretary of the Communist Party of Greece at the party’s 19th Conference, replacing long-standing Aleka Papariga who lead the party for 22 years. The conference procedures ended a day earlier.
Mr. Koutsoumpas developed his relationship with the Communist Party at the party-published “Rizospastis” newspaper, creating a reputation of a “strict” party member, dedicated to part principles. He has been a member of KKE since December 1974
In his most recent public clash with party members, he attacked those “who always found something to slow down party processes which could steadily lead it on its revolutionary path”, condemning opportunism and adventurism.
Eleni Bellou, who was head of the Committee of Conference Positions – Program, Statutes and Proposals, will likely take over from Mr. Koutsoumpas previous role as head of KKE’s central committee, which effectively controls the entire party. This new power landscape has been described as a “rule of two”. Outgoing general secretary Aleka Papariga will retain a role in party as president of KKE’s parliamentary group, since Mr. Koutsoumpas is not an elected MP.
In the meantime, 20 members of the outgoing Central Committee were not re-elected, including historical party member Spyros Halvatzis, who did not submit his candidature. He appears to be one of two party members who did not approve the party’s financial report, specifically the developments in the party-owned “Typoekdotiki S.A.” publishing company. Aside from Mr. Halvatzis, a number of other prominent party members were also not reelected in the new Central Committee, such as G. Mavrikos, Th. Koutras, P. Mentrekas, M. Agourakis, Th. Tziantzis and T. Tsingas.
