Greece is Europe’s cradle of philosophers and mythology. The quick ascent from nowhere, and final victory, of Stefanos Kasselakis as the new leader of the left-wing Syriza party last night (24 September) has the quality of a Greek epic. Yet he must prove that he can complement his Homeric heroism with the philosophical acumen to take the party through its internal battles without losing momentum.
The Greek weekly newspaper To Vima described Kasselakis’s success as the result of his capacity to go with the flow of favourable circumstances. Thanks to a short campaign with lots of uplift through social media, he was elected as the new party leader with 56 per cent of the votes, beating his opponent Effie Achtsioglou. No one had seen this coming. Nor does anyone really know what politics he stands for. Perhaps that was the refreshing part of his campaign, at least for a younger generation of supporters. No politics, no divisions, no pain. Just being left wing is enough.
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