The candidacy of independent MP Theodoros Karypidis with SYRIZA in the upcoming elections has caused major controversy amongst party member due to his political beliefs. Many within the opposition party believe that support for Mr. Karypidis is an effort to “appeal to the right” and maintain relations with ANEL.
Disgruntled SYRIZA members have cited a number of Mr. Karypidis’ posts on his facebook, where he has expressed questionable nationalist and borderline racist opinions. In the past, Mr. Karypidis had also interviewed Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris, who quickly offered his “support” via twitter.
Members of the opposition party’s Civil Secretariat have demanded that Mr. Karypidis’ candidacy be revised, while a member of SYRIZA’s offices in Kozani resigned in protest. The reactions to Mr. Karypidis’ candidacy are similar to the reactions against the candidacy of Odysseas Voudouris, with the Left Platform being particularly critical of the selection of a former PASOK and DIMAR member as candidate.
Mr. Karypidis spoke to Vima 99.5 yesterday and revealed that SYRIZA secretary Dimitris Vitsas made the proposal to him about two weeks ago. Additionally, he argued that the Left Platform was against him because he is not a SYRIZA member.
Although SYRIZA’s leadership officially supports the two non-party candidates in the upcoming elections, prominent party members such as Dimitris Papadimoulis and Yannis Milios have urged them to be more careful in their statements and remind them that SYRIZA’s support necessitates an agreement on key issues such as
and the bailouts.
Scathing commentary from PASOK
PASOK issued a statement regarding the turmoil of SYRIZA supporting Theodoros Karypidis’ candidacy and accused the opposition and its leader Alexis Tsipras of employing “right-wingers, Golden Dawn sympathizers, anti-Semites and racists” in his effort to assume authority.
The coalition government party stated that Mr. Karypidis was a personal choice of Mr. Tsipras and “the first example of the so-called ‘anti-bailout’ coalition of SYRIZA and Kammenos”.
In the statement, PASOK further urges SYRIZA not to refer to itself as left party “because it is not” and claims that “SYRIZA voters and members can now understand why Mr. Tsipras did not want to cooperate with the democratic forces to isolate Golden Dawn”.
Georgiadis accuses SYRIZA of “shameless political populism”!
The Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis also commented on SYRIZA supporting Theodoros Karypidis in the upcoming election and accused Mr. Tsipras of being “irresponsible”. The Health Minister also estimated that the controversy has caused internal conflict in the opposition party.
Mr. Georgiadis further pointed out that Mr. Karypidis made anti-Semitic comments via his facebook account (where he refers to Hanukah as an “anti-Greek celebration”) and accused the opposition party of “shameless political populism” and Mr. Tsipras of “saying yes to everyone”.
