Costas Simitis

Family, friends, and PASOK members who worked alongside her throughout the years gathered on Saturday afternoon to say their final goodbye to Vasso Papandreou, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 80.

The funeral took place at the Church of Saint Basil in Valimitika, Aigio, her hometown.

It is widely known that in Greece politicians are afraid of political debates.

I am not an expert in international relations, much less in Greek-Turkish relations. However, as a historian, I have always been struck by the significant shift in Greek foreign policy with the rise of PASOK to power. These thoughts come to mind whenever I hear commentary on the government's decisions and its reactions to such criticism.

During the event, the three former leaders, founding members, younger generation representatives, the current leader, and the other presidential candidates emphasized that PASOK is returning stronger in opposition, aiming to regain governmental influence in the future.

PASOK will celebrate on Tuesday the 50th anniversary since the foundation of the socialist party with an event in central Athens. 

The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its establishment by late prime minister Andreas Papandreou on Tuesday, as it heads into a leadership race that will determine its way forward.

In her letter to MPs and MEPs, Diamantopoulou outlines her political journey, goals, and achievements, emphasizing the need for unity moving forward. She highlights her intent to showcase her programmatic commitments through the upcoming televised debate.

An old and experienced politician once gave advice to the scion of a political family on how, and with whom, he should govern. But the crucial advice came at the end: "You won't rule only with those you want to hang out with and eat sushi in the evening." It sounded a bit shallow then, but over time I realized it is not really. 

The management of public opinion is among the tasks of every government. In a developed democracy one would argue that this management must focus on a continuous and systematic explanation of the government's strategy for the achievement of explicitly stated goals, so as to dispel confusion and remove unavoidable obstacles to policy making.