ATHENS – Embattled major opposition SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis, only nine months after taking over the troubled party, is dealing with a near open revolt over his leadership with 87 stalwarts demanding a united center-left front.

They accused him of “divisive tactics, dismissals, and targeting of members for expressing their opinions,” and disappointed that party candidates for European Parliament elections got only 14.92 percent of the vote.

That was in line with his expectations but still far behind those of the ruling New Democracy which also saw a big drop to 28.31 percent from 40.53 percent in June 2023 national elections in which SYRIZA was routed a second time.

That debacle for the Leftists saw then party leader and one-time premier Alexis Tsipra quit and Kasselakis, a Greek-American businessman, come out of nowhere to beat party veterans and take over the helm.

He’s been unable to make any significant inroads against Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Kasselakis’ style is increasingly grating on SYRIZA long-time members questioning his vision for the party.

His critics said that, “Despite the significant drop in ND’s percentages, SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance lost ground and the progressive space overall did not strengthen. Instead, we saw record abstention and a rise in the far-right,.”

They were also upset over his decision to stop the daily operation of the party’s historic newspaper Avgi which sold only about 750 copies a day and was a money-bleeder with little interest even within the party.

“Critical decisions regarding the party’s media outlets, affecting employees and having historical significance for the Left, such as the suspension of Avgi’s daily edition, cannot be made without being discussed in any collective body,” they noted.

But they also pointed toward trying to create a larger center-left party that could bring SYRIZA together with the equally disjoined PASOK-KINAL, which has been trying to overtake the Leftists for second place in the political landscape.

“Cooperation among progressive forces is a major social demand and we must respond to this demand by forming a large progressive alliance, a front on both parliamentary and social levels, that will defeat ND in the next national elections,” they stated.

The letter came a day after three top SYRIZA executives resigned from the party’s executive bodies in another blow to Kasselakis who has been trying to find issues that would unite the party and Greece’s left.

In response, his office put out a statement that the party and he “have never been afraid of dialogue,” adding that all opinions will be allowed when the political secretariat meets July 4 and the central committee on July 7.