Effie Achtsioglou

The large turnout at a Tuesday evening event that sought to answer the question: "Who can stand up to Mitsotakis' dominance?" reflects the eagerness of center-left voters to identify a figure that can inspire them.

The 11 MPs who defected from SYRIZA are set to reveal their parliamentary group on Monday. Comprising members from the "Umbrella" and "6+6" factions that broke away from the main opposition, the group will be led by the widely respected former economy and interior minister Alexis Charitsis.

Eleven independent MPs who broke away from main opposition SYRIZA in recent weeks have agreed to form a new parliamentary group, the name of which will be announced on Monday. 

Chairman of the group is Alexis Haritsis, while Euclides Tsakalotos and Nasos Iliopoulos are the parliamentary representatives. Peti Perka is secretary.

SYRIZA's internal tensions continued on Sunday, the second day of the party's Central Committee meeting. Sunday's SYRIZA's Central Committee meeting will conclude in the evening with a vote on the party's draft Political Resolution.

Three leading members of main opposition SYRIZA have said the party is facing a "very serious crisis" and have called for an immediate meeting of the party's political secretariat.

The new leader of the opposition, Stefanos Kasselakis, began his tenure as leader of the left-wing SYRIZA party by making some modest personnel changes that have already resulted in pushback.

Also, Kasselakis failed to persuade his main rival for the party leadership, lawmaker Effie Achtsioglou, to take any leadership role in the party or the parliamentary group.

Main opposition party SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance on Monday officially announced the launch of the campaign for the election of a new party leader, scheduled to be held on September 10.

Two main pre-electoral mottos are "On September 10, I participate" and "Tomorrow begins with us", it was noted in the party announcement.

Describing the new social security bill that was passed on Thursday in Parliament with 158 votes in favor and 128 against, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said it marks a "very important step forward" that safeguards pensions for the next 50 years.

The previous government of Alexis Tsipras systematically delayed implementation of economic reform provisions in the third bailout programme which it signed simply because it did not believe in them.

It rejected them as neo-liberal and constantly blocked their implementation.

Its opposition to all manner of liberalisatioin of the labour market was characteristic.

Greece's two main parties continued to disagree on Friday about whether to hold a televised debate with the two main contenders, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, or one with all political leaders.