Stefanos Kasselakis

Stefanos Kasselakis
Στέφανος Κασσελάκης
Kasselakis in 2023
President of Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance
In office
24 September 2023 – 12 September 2024
Preceded byAlexis Tsipras
Personal details
Born (1988-03-29) 29 March 1988 (age 36)
Marousi, Greece
Political partySyriza (2023–2024)[1]
Other political
affiliations		Republican Party (U.S.) (2013–2019)[2]
Spouse
Tyler McBeth
​
(m. 2023)​
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (BS, BA)
Occupation
  • Businessman
  • Politician

Stefanos Kasselakis (Greek: Στέφανος Κασσελάκης; born 29 March 1988)[3] is a Greek businessman, entrepreneur and politician, who served as the leader of Syriza.[4]

Kasselakis spent a considerable portion of his life residing in the US, where he worked in the banking and shipping sectors and contributed as a writer for The National Herald. He was registered as a Republican, supported Kyriakos Mitsotakis and endorsed his candidacy for party leader in 2015. He was an MP candidate with Syriza in the May and June 2023 Greek parliamentary elections.

In the 2023 Syriza leadership election, he secured a surprising victory over Effie Achtsioglou. However, a few months after his win, Syriza underwent a division, resulting in the departure of 11 Members of Parliament (MPs) and three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who exited the party in protest of Kasselakis' ideology and practices.[5][6][7][8] The ideological shift and lack of clarity within the party led to substantial criticism of its leadership, particularly after the 2024 European Parliament elections, where Syriza’s share of the vote further dropped to 14.92%.

As a result of the growing discontent, 87 members of the party's Central Committee filed a motion of no confidence against him. On 12 September 2024, the party's Political Secretariat declared that he was being removed from office.[9]

  1. ^ "Former Greek opposition leader Kasselakis departs left-wing Syriza". Associated Press. 9 November 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  2. ^ Κωστής Λυμπουρίδης (12 October 2023). "Η σχέση του κ. Κασσελάκη με τους Ρεπουμπλικανούς και την αλήθεια" (in Greek). The President. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  3. ^ Smith, Helena (25 September 2023). "Stefanos Kasselakis: ex-banker who lit up Greek politics to lead Syriza". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  4. ^ Fallon, Katy (25 September 2023). "Kasselakis, a political unknown and ex-banker, wins race to lead Greek left". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  5. ^ Peregil, Francisco; Aza, Hibai Arbide (4 December 2023). "Syriza in free fall: The great party of the Greek left collapses". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Ex-SYRIZA MP says Kasselakis embraces 'neoliberal' views, operates 'undemocratically'". www.ekathimerini.com. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Greek leftist Syriza party suffers wave of resignations". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Greece's main opposition party cracks up some more". Politico. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  9. ^ "SYRIZA's political secretariat confirms Kasselakis' removal as party leader". www.amna.gr. 13 September 2024.