Movement for Democracy (Greece)

Movement for Democracy Κίνημα Δημοκρατίας Kínima Dimokratías
President	Stefanos Kasselakis
Spokesperson	Michalis Chourdakis [el]
Founder	Stefanos Kasselakis
Founded	23 November 2024; 4 months ago (2024-11-23)
Split from	SYRIZA
Headquarters	Tavros, Athens
Membership	35,000[1]
Ideology	Pro-Europeanism[2]
Political position	Centre-left[2][3]
European affiliation	European Democratic Party
Colours	Purple   Dark Orange
Hellenic Parliament	6 / 300[a]
European Parliament	0 / 21
Website
kinimadimokratias.gr
Politics of Greece Political parties Elections Movement for Democracy does not have a parliamentary group. The number of MPs refers to independent MPs who have joined the party.

Movement for Democracy (Greek: Κίνημα Δημοκρατίας, romanized: Kínima Dimokratías) is a political party formed in Greece on 23 November 2024 by the former leader of Syriza, Stefanos Kasselakis after the party's extraordinary congress refused to approve his candidacy in the internal elections.^[4] The party's founding declaration was signed by, among others, five independent MPs, formerly members of the Syriza parliamentary group.^[5]

History

Syriza and Kasselakis

Following Syriza's disappointing performance in the May and June 2023 legislative elections, Alexis Tsipras, its long-time leader, stood down from his position. In the following leadership election, Kasselakis as an outsider candidate was elected to succeed Tsipras.^[6] Kasselakis set about moving the party towards the centre, a controversial move which led to several figures leaving Syriza and the formation of party splits, including New Left.^[7]

Internally, Syriza faced a crisis when key officials of central committee of the party attempted and succeeded to oust Kasselakis as party leader on accusations of "autocratic behavior".^[8] Kasselakis attempted to stand as a candidate in the new leadership election but was barred.^[7]

New party

After his ousting from Syriza, Kasselakis announced he would be forming a new political project. Initially nameless, he put the name of the party up for a vote.^[9] On 23 November, he launched the name of the party as Kínima Dimokratías (transl.: Democracy Movement).

In April 2025, the party officially set up its internal structures, for election later that month. The party also expressed a desire to join the European Democratic Party,^[10] and a proposal to join was put to party members on 8 and 9 April in an internal vote.^[11] On 10 April 2025, the party joined the European Democratic Party.^[12]

Affiliated Members of Parliament

The party has stated it seeks to at some point in 2025 to form an official parliamentary group.^[13] Until such time those MPs who are members or are affiliated with the party in a personal capacity sit as independents within parliament.

Evangelos Apostolakis, an independent (formerly SYRIZA) MP, has been associating himself with the party, but has not joined the party.^[14]

Name	Constituency	Former party	Joined	Notes	Ref.
Theodora Tzakri	Pella	SYRIZA	23 September 2024 (2024-09-23)		[5]
Rallia Christidou	Athens B3
Yota Poulou	Boeotia
Kyriaki Malama	Chalkidiki
Alexandros Avlonitis	Corfu
Michalis Chourdakis	Thessaloniki A	Course of Freedom	28 January 2025 (2025-01-28)	Press spokesperson[a]	[17]

1. Chourdakis attempted to resign from the party and his position on 30 January 2025 surrounding his position on the Prespa Agreement, but his resignation was rejected by Kasselakis.^[15][16]

References

1. "Στέφανος Κασσελάκης: «Στόχος τα 100.000 μέλη μέσα το 2025 - Έχουμε ξεπεράσει τα 35.000 σήμερα»". Reader (in Greek). 21 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
2. "Greece". Europe Elects. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
3. "Στέφανος Κασσελάκης: «Είμαστε κόμμα πιο αριστερό από την αριστερά και πιο κεντρώο από το κέντρο»".
4. Sleed (23 November 2024). "Η πρώτη ανάρτηση Κασσελάκη: "Το Κίνημα Δημοκρατίας είναι η Ιστορία που γράφουν οι πολλοί" - Documento". www.documentonews.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 24 November 2024.
5. "Κίνημα Δημοκρατίας: Οι πέντε ανεξάρτητοι βουλευτές που υπέγραψαν την ιδρυτική διακήρυξη". AthensVoice (in Greek). 23 November 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
6. Smith, Helena (25 September 2023). "Stefanos Kasselakis: ex-banker who lit up Greek politics to lead Syriza". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
7. Smith, Helena (10 November 2024). "Greece's Syriza could lose status as main opposition as Kasselakis launches new party". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
8. Kokkinidis, Tasos (8 September 2024). "Stefanos Kasselakis Ousted by Syriza Amid Party Tensions - GreekReporter.com". GreekReporter.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
9. "Stefanos Kasselakis announces new party in Greece after leaving Syriza". euronews. 9 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
10. "Αναρτήθηκε το Καταστατικό του Κινήματος Δημοκρατίας - Κασσελάκης: "Δεν αποτελεί κόμμα διαμαρτυρίας, ούτε συνέχεια παλαιών σχηματισμών"". www.parapolitika.gr (in Greek). 6 April 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
11. "Κίνημα Δημοκρατίας: Πρόταση για ένταξη στο Ευρωπαϊκό Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα". euro2day.gr. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
12. "The European Democratic Party Welcomes Greece's Movement for Democracy". democrats.eu. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
13. "Στ. Κασσελάκης: Αρχές του 2025 η Κοινοβουλευτική Ομάδα του Κινήματος Δημοκρατίας". www.naftemporiki.gr (in Greek). 21 December 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
14. "Σε αναμονή". www.emakedonia.gr (in Greek). 24 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
15. Sleed (30 January 2025). "Κίνημα Δημοκρατίας: Την παραίτηση του έθεσε ο Χουρδάκης λίγες ημέρες μετά την προσχώρηση του - Documento". www.documentonews.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 30 January 2025.
16. "Κίνημα Δημοκρατίας: Παραίτηση Χουρδάκη για τις Πρέσπες, δεν την έκανε δεκτή ο Κασσελάκης". Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ (in Greek). 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
17. "Μιχάλης Χουρδάκης: Προσχωρεί στο Κίνημα Δημοκρατίας και αναλαμβάνει εκπρόσωπος Τύπου". www.naftemporiki.gr (in Greek). 28 January 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2025.

External links

• Official website
• https://democrats.eu/en/the-european-democratic-party-welcomes-greeces-movement-for-democracy/