A different perspective from leadership on his footprint PASOK towards the elections now expresses at every opportunity the Pavlos Geroulanosformulating specific proposals for the poll explosion they expect in the main opposition party.
The strong concern and reflection on the outcome of the electoral battle against the New Democracy remain as the two main “ingredients” of their daily action, since in all the gallops they see the great distance from the lead of the ruling faction and the risk of losing the primacy in the center-left if Alexis Tsipras re-enters the “game” with a new party. At yesterday’s meeting of the Organizing Secretariat of the Conference, they did not reach a specific date for the Conference, although the head, Yiannis Vardakastanis, argued that it will take place in March 2026. A few hours earlier, Pavlos Geroulanos emphasized with an article on his website that: “We have work and we don’t have time. We must hurry to show that we bring to society something new, something fresh, something dynamic, something sincere. To prove that we mean what we say and apply it first. Such a PASOK Renaissance conference will send decisive pre-election signals of Renaissance to the area and the country.”
With his article, Mr. Geroulanos leaves serious points against Harilaou Trikoupis for the functioning of the organs and essentially “questions” the effectiveness of the course so far, saying that: “To be an example of the other way the PASOKhe should, with his political decisions today, signal the way he will govern tomorrow… If PASOK is ready to lead the country to an “explosion of democracy”, with a sweeping message of meritocracy, transparency, justice and institutionalism in order to build relationships of trust with the citizens, then it should do so first in its own function”. At the same time, however, Nikos Androulakis he “reads” the current “image” of PASOK differently and declares to SKAI that: “There is an irreversible course for New Democracy. Because PASOK has a program, responsibility and strategy towards the New Democracy, I think that in the end it will be the factor that will surprise and be the winner in the next elections”. In fact, when Mr. Androulakis was asked about Geroulanos’ remark that there has not been an explosion of democracy in PASOK, he avoided answering with the following claim: “I don’t know what Mr. Geroulanos said. I know that PASOK executives must talk about PASOK’s program and the goal of defeating New Democracy.”
The truth is that in PASOK, more and more executives are looking for other ways to strengthen the party’s dynamics, considering that the Congress is the only opportunity to acquire a clean and efficient route. Like Pavlos Geroulanos, so too Harry Doukas they propose an open conference, where space is freed for the clash of opinions and to reach a common line. Both propose to “open up” the issue of post-election collaborations – Mr. Doukas says a clear “no” to post-election collaboration with New Democracy, while Mr. Geroulanos, after explaining that they must first describe their positions at the Congress, emphasizes about collaborations: “We have nothing to fear. Apart from the self-evident rejection of cooperation scenarios with the ND, which will create a problem both in the country and in the area, we have a lot to gain by having clear conversations with the Greek people. Personally, I believe in a PASOK that insists on an autonomous course, but is open to society, its actors, civil society, even trends and parties, that embrace our principles and values, in order to synthesize the great changes that the country needs”.
At yesterday’s meeting of the Organizing Secretariat under Mr. Vardakastanis (Mr. Androulakis was absent) Kostas Pantazis, a close associate of Mr. Geroulanos, presented the set of proposals of the candidate for the leadership in last year’s polls and again requested a specific date for the Congress. Tonia Antoniou, Hara Kefalidou and Thodoros Margaritis (head of the Renewing Left) spoke about the need for all opinions to be heard at the Congress, who said meaningfully that in PSOK we are talking about enlargement with other forces, but it is good to see that within PASOK that has turned its back on the difficult and contributed to the synthesis of opinions with its progressive imprint. Mr. Margaritis, like other executives of the same component within PASOK, recommend dialogue with other progressive forces and therefore do not exclude the Tsipras party from the open debate plan. Executives close to Nikos Androulakis preferred soft tones – “they played defense”, as was characteristically said by an executive with the conviction that Harilaou Trikoupis wants to gain time and avoid the discussions in the organs that usually end up in the opening of the snuff box. Thanasis Glavinas, former press representative and member of the body, argued that “we must all guard the pre-congress process so that it becomes an example to be imitated as happened in the internal party elections for the selection of leadership. Mr. Glavinas suggested turning to Neolaia, while the also close associate of the leader of PASOK, Heraklis Droulias, agreed with Mr. Margaritis that “greater vital space must be given to the expansion within PASOK”.
Towards the end of November, they intend to hold the “big” CEEC, a solemn meeting with the participation of all the Secretariats to record the start of the pre-conference process and the disputes.