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What's left? Delusion, reaction and surrender in the Syriza leadership contest
Syriza, once the focus of left-wing hopes across Europe, looks set to pick a super-rich shipping magnate as its new leader. KEVIN OVENDEN asks what this tells us
VOX POPULI: Firefighters employed on short-term contracts and other protesters protest in Athens on Thursday during a 24-hour strike by Greece's civil servant union to protest at attacks on workers' rights

BARRING an act of god the next leader of the once radical-left Syriza party in Greece will be a multimillionaire shipping boss come Sunday night.

You read that right. Businessman Stefanos Kasselakis, who campaigned for Joe Biden in preference to Barack Obama in 2008, had nothing to do with Syriza until he launched his candidacy for leader in August. That followed the announcement by Alexis Tsipras that he was standing down in the wake of terrible election results in June.

In the first round last Sunday Kasselakis took 45 per cent of the vote, which is of members and registered supporters. The perceived continuity candidate Efi Achtsioglu got 36 per cent. Kasselakis is sure this Sunday to get the 8 percentage points of a once powerful cabinet minister who has endorsed him.

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