Former independent socialist MP Costis Efstathiou has claimed that the "Sizopoulos group" continues to control EDEK, criticising party figures whom he says are unwilling to relinquish power.
Speaking on Politis Radio, Efstathiou also weighed in on the party's leadership succession following the resignation of Nikos Anastasiou, advocating the appointment of a broadly acceptable figure to serve as party president until the Electoral Congress. At the same time, he did not rule out a leadership bid of his own, provided his party status is first clarified. "I always believed that a socialist party cannot disappear. A socialist party does not reach the end of its cycle because socialist ideology remains there," he said, adding that "some people remain unrepentant."
‘They do not want to surrender power’
Efstathiou focused much of his criticism on a group of party officials who, according to him, continue to determine developments within EDEK. "This is the result of that wretched congress called by Sizopoulos within 48 hours, which we all opposed," he said.
He linked the current situation to the processes through which the party's existing collective bodies were elected.
Clarifying that he was not criticising the entire Central Committee but rather its majority, he said: "This Central Committee, and I am not blaming all of it, but its majority, is the result of a wretched congress and district conferences where electoral manipulation prevailed. Everybody knows it. That's how it happened."
According to Efstathiou, the central problem is the unwillingness of certain individuals to let go of the positions they hold. "Those who are still in power do not want to hand it over. It is the syndrome of the little feudal lord in his own courtyard."
His proposal for the presidency
Efstathiou referred to party rules requiring the election of a new leader within 40 days of a resignation, arguing that the deputy president's role during the transition should be limited to facilitating that process. "Under the party constitution, which I hope will be respected, the party must elect a president within 40 days. For those 40 days, the deputy president's only concern should be creating the conditions for the election."
Because that 40-day period expires during August and because any newly elected leader would serve only until the party's Electoral Congress in December, Efstathiou argued in favour of selecting a serious and broadly acceptable figure to take over on an interim basis.
The two names he suggested were veteran party figure Doros Theodorou and Nikos Nikolaides. "For once, some people should refrain from running and only one person should submit a candidacy."
Leaves leadership bid open
Asked whether he intends to seek the EDEK presidency himself, Efstathiou did not rule out the possibility.
However, he noted that he is not currently a member of the party and said that issue would first need to be clarified.
He also recalled that when Marinos Sizopoulos resigned, he had been the first person to announce a candidacy for the leadership.
Membership rolls dispute
Efstathiou also revisited the longstanding issue of expulsions and removals from EDEK's membership register. "Around 40 to 50 party officials were expelled, but the real problem was the removals, the erasing of people from the registers."
He added: "Many of our comrades are outside the registers because somebody decided to erase them. There are hundreds of cases."
Commenting on the composition of the membership register, he further claimed: "I know ELAM members who are registered with EDEK. When exactly were they registered?"
‘The problem with EDEK’
Offering a broader critique of the party's recent trajectory, Efstathiou attributed the crisis both to individuals and to what he described as a failure to produce meaningful policy.
Concluding, he argued that EDEK's current situation is disappointing even to those politically opposed to the party. "Even EDEK's most ardent enemies are saddened by what is happening."
