PASOK

From “all against all” to “all-to-all” communications, the summit battle in PASOK is shifting in the final 24 hours before the second-round polls that will determine the winner of the election.

The movements on the internal party chessboard are rapidly developing between the two PASOK leadership candidates ahead of the final battle for the leadership this coming Sunday.

Greetings! So, yesterday, the “day after” PASOK’s first ballot, the atmosphere inside felt like Verdi’s “Requiem“. The general disappointment from the outcome isn’t just limited to Pavlos and Anna’s camps, but also to their 130,000 voters. While that’s significantly more than Androulakis’ 90,000 or Doukas’ 65,000, unfortunately, they ended up “split” in two and failed.

In the high-stakes race for leadership of the socialist PASOK party, incumbent Nikos Androulakis and Athens Mayor Haris Doukas are gearing up for a decisive second round of voting this Sunday.

Past experience has shown that an open internal election goes beyond the microcosm of a political party seeking new leadership; it represents a significant democratic milestone. This approach has allowed Greek political parties to engage directly with citizens, moving beyond the confines of internal bureaucracy.

PASOK party leader Nikos Androulakis expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of internal party elections during an interview with Mega TV on Monday, emphasizing that he is open to holding a debate with his opponent in the second round, Athens Mayor Haris Doukas. 

Androulakis and Doukas will compete for the leadership of the socialist PASOK party next Sunday.

Mayor Haris Doukas’ team is planning to improve his image in Attica, where he faces an unfavorable correlation of forces after placing fourth.

The close race for second place between Haris Doukas, the mayor of Athens, and Pavlos Yeroulanos, an MP and former minister, largely captured the attention of the first round of PASOK's leadership election on Sunday, which was comfortably won by incumbent leader Nikos Androulakis.

A proposal to hold a debate was made by PASOK – Movement for Change presidential candidate, Charis Doukas, addressing state-run ERT television.

In a post on social media, Doukas said he had already contacted ERT’s management asking for a “lively and productive dialogue” between him and Nikos Androulakis.

With leftist SYRIZA in free fall, the likelihood of a return to the pre-crisis state of having what is effectively a two-party system, with PASOK in the main opposition, can by no means be ruled out. The socialist party has already deposed SYRIZA from second place in public opinion polls, even though its ratings do not point to it being popular enough to becoming a governing force.