Skourletis

"Umbrella," the left-wing faction of the main opposition SYRIZA party, led by former Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, has officially announced it has quit the party.

Main opposition SYRIZA has been plunged into turmoil again, after the proposal by its leader Stefanos Kasselakis to hold a referendum about the expulsion of prominent dissenters from the party appears to have backfired as senior figures that had so far backed him expressed their disagreement.

Nikos Voutsis, former speaker of Parliament, announced on Friday that he is departing from the main opposition SYRIZA party. 

His decision follows a similar announcement made earlier in the day by another prominent party figure, Panos Skourletis.

Former SYRIZA secretary Panos Skourletis has become the latest high-ranking official to depart from the main opposition party. 

In a statement released on Friday, he outlined the party's mistakes since 2019, which he said led to the heavy defeats in this year's elections, while slamming newly-elected leader Stefanos Kasselakis for distancing SYRIZA from its left-wing roots.

A day after being expelled from SYRIZA, Nikos Filis, a former education minister, launched an attack on the new leader of the leftist opposition party, Stefanos Kasselakis, drawing a parallel between him and former US President Donald Trump.

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.

Three senior members of the main opposition have slammed an overnight decision by SYRIZA's new leader to expel them for openly criticising his views, saying that it is up to the party's ethics committee to push out members.

Greece's ruling conservatives and the leftist opposition clashed in Parliament Thursday ahead of a no-confidence vote Friday.

The motion was submitted by SYRIZA Wednesday over a wiretapping scandal involving politicians and journalists.

The government and the main opposition on Tuesday continued their clash over the education bill, which, notably, provides for the introduction of a police corps into universities.

Wednesday's final vote on the bill will coincide with a protest staged by teachers' associations of all education levels, as well as university students' and parents' associations.

The political secretariat of main opposition SYRIZA has decided that the party's new name will not be decided via a referendum because of concerns it may cause divisions. 

Instead, the party's Central Committee will convene on February 15-16 and attempt to reach consensus on the issue.