Zappeion: Candidates for PASOK Leadership Gather for 50th Anniversary Celebration

This year’s anniversary coincides with the final stretch leading up to the key leadership election. Former PASOK Presidents, Kostas Simitis, George Papandreou, and Evangelos Venizelos, will deliver greetings. Founding members who signed the September 3, 1974 declaration will be honored. Current PASOK-KINAL President Nikos Androulakis will speak, and a tribute concert to the late composer Giannis Markopoulos, whose work was linked to the fight against the junta and the transition to democracy, will follow.

Although today’s event may seem like a unity exercise, the internal PASOK climate is heating up as candidates await the submission of necessary supporting signatures to the relevant Committee. Candidates have used August for tours across Greece and plan to resume these immediately after the official announcement of candidacies on September 9th. Just as with today’s event, mobilization has been organized by PASOK members and supporters for the upcoming Central Committee meeting at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, where candidates will present their positions. On social media, Haris Doukas also called for participation in today’s September 3 event at Zappeion.

The Mayor of Athens and leadership candidate, Haris Doukas, highlighted that he is calling for unity to honor PASOK’s 50 years, drawing strength from its roots for the significant changes ahead. Doukas concluded his message with a call for “overcoming and victory.” Anna Diamantopoulou, speaking from the same historic venue where Andreas Papandreou presented PASOK’s Founding Declaration in 1974, emphasized that “a strong PASOK means strength in society. Now is the time!” The event, starting with a dynamic video tribute to the significant anniversary, focused on the new generation, and the candidate highlighted youth issues, followed by an open discussion with attendees.

During her speech, the candidate noted, “In this room, half a century ago, the spark of change was ignited, and the sun rose for everyone. 50 years have passed. PASOK is governed by achievements and mistakes. In the last 15 years, we have faced crises, and the biggest difference from 1974 is that youth no longer see opportunities and do not participate. Today, our political system is in flux. The ND government is in continuous decline, and the main opposition is disintegrating. PASOK—the Great and Governing PASOK—can and must be the starting point for the future. It can become a strong opposition tomorrow and a government the day after. For a Greece with democracy and security for all. For a Greece that produces. For a Greece with justice and social cohesion. For a Greece leading in the 21st century. For a Greece of youth who stay, return, create, and excel.”

Addressing the youth specifically, she said: “You are called today to break the barriers of a dead-end government policy that wants youth to live on benefits, to set aside the ‘nothing works in this country’ mentality – let’s all say together YES, IT CAN BE DONE. We deeply love our homeland and want it to be just, prosperous, and pioneering. But no one will do it for us. However, first and foremost, it is about regaining trust among us and taking responsibility. I want to rebuild that trust and serve that responsibility as PASOK President—with realism and logic, faith in rights and unity, with high ideals and an open party.”

On the 50th anniversary of PASOK’s founding by Andreas Papandreou, Pavlos Geroulanos will speak (at noon) in a large online meeting with friends and supporters of his candidacy in Greece and among the Greek diaspora. The title of the online event is “Tuesday, September 3 then, Tuesday, September 3 now: The Plan for PASOK’s Renaissance.” During the event, Geroulanos will present his plan and specific steps for PASOK’s political and organizational renaissance, aiming for “a movement open to society and dominant in its political space, ready to win and take the reins of the country again in the next national elections.” His main goal is to update yesterday’s ideas into a PASOK that not only celebrates its 50 years but looks forward and envisions what it can offer in the next fifty years. Geroulanos has set three goals: a plan for the country, organizing the party, and a leadership team that convinces that it can make its promises a reality. The online meeting will be open to any interested citizen.

Nadia Giannakopoulou from Peristeri said yesterday, on the occasion of PASOK’s anniversary, that it represents an inspiration for a new beginning, a call to respond to the national need for a complete revival of PASOK—not as a party of small steps and compromise with stagnation around small percentages, but as a party that can govern the country. “Leaving behind past frameworks and any external definition, highlighting its deeply reformist, anti-populist character, not seeking solutions in imaginary schemes, not believing that with the ideologies and tactics of previous decades we can represent society today, especially young people,” said Giannakopoulou, who estimates: “Now is the biggest moment. The greatest opportunity for PASOK to return as a force of social democracy and reform, patriotism, and center-left, as it always was, to become the force of hope and victory in the next parliamentary elections.”

Mihalis Katrinis, returning from a tour in Western Macedonia, emphasizes—on the occasion of the anniversary—the need to create a unifying atmosphere for the future. Speaking yesterday in Grevena, he mentioned daily issues and necessary policies, such as:

• Productive restructuring and the revival of the primary sector to create new jobs and keep people in their areas.
• Tax incentives for new small and micro-businesses and self-employed individuals.
• Support measures for large families and equal rights for three-child families as those for large families.
• Comprehensive housing policy for families with children, applying social housing, not half measures.
• Support measures and tax breaks for parents up to 30 years old having children.

Poll Results

The teams of the leadership candidates are also closely watching the polls for the early autumn period. They are concerned with which duo will advance to the second round, with the common assumption being that the picture will start to clear after September 15. A recent MRB poll for OPEN shows that Nikos Androulakis and Haris Doukas are leading in the preference for PASOK’s leadership. Specifically, they received:

• Nikos Androulakis – 25.5%
• Haris Doukas – 21.9%
• Anna Diamantopoulou – 17.5%
• Pavlos Geroulanos – 12.6%
• Nadia Giannakopoulou – 4.9%
• Mihalis Katrinis – 3.3%
• Giannis Kanelakis – 0.9%
• Other – 8.8%
• Undecided – 12.7%

It is noteworthy that these percentages concern potential voters in PASOK’s internal elections. The percentages change for citizens who stated they would definitely vote in PASOK’s elections. Specifically:

• Nikos Androulakis – 23.5%
• Haris Doukas – 22.6%
• Anna Diamantopoulou – 17.2%
• Pavlos Geroulanos – 15.5%
• Nadia Giannakopoulou – 3.2%
• Mihalis Katrinis – 3.7%
• Giannis Kanelakis – 0.6%
• Other – 1.2%
• Undecided – 12.4%

When asked who they would vote for in the second round of internal elections if Nikos Androulakis and Haris Doukas advance, citizens answered:

• Nikos Androulakis – 41.5%
• Haris Doukas – 39.5%
• None – 12.7%
• Don’t Know/No Answer – 6.4%

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