A critical period for PASOK

The public sympathy for PASOK that emerged after the death of its late leader Fofi Genimmata, the dynamics of the election of a new president and representative of the new generation (Nikos Androulakis), and even the instinctive support for a party leader who was a victim of surveillance have not brought the poll boost that PASOK had expected and hoped for.

Then came the case of Eva Kaili, a Greek member of the European Parliament who is in prison pending trial over an ongoing investigation into a major corruption probe that has rocked Brussels, which, in its first phase, seems to have affected, at least mildly, the party’s popularity, even though it is well known that the relationship between PASOK leader Androulakis and the former PASOK lawmaker was already strained. It is also known that she did not enjoy his support and he had not intended to include her in his list of candidates.

Even if ruling New Democracy does not avoid some losses from the investigation involving its own MEP, Maria Spyraki (in both cases the party leaders reacted immediately), it is unlikely that PASOK’s prospects will improve.

Beneficiaries from the latest developments in Brussels, which bring to mind a wider sense of corruption from the past decades, are primarily the so-called anti-establishment parties.

In this context, New Democracy is not so much concerned about the gradual rise of the National Party-Greeks (the far-right political party founded in 2020 by imprisoned former Golden Dawn official Ilias Kasidiaris), but by the consolidation and strengthening of the ultra-nationalist and populist Greek Solution, which is already in Parliament, and the distinct presence shown in the latest polls of the nationalist National Creation.

The looming danger is not only that the conservatives might lose the chance to secure an absolute majority, but also that they will face the prospect of a difficult political dilemma: forming a government coalition with a partner they dislike and would like to avoid.

For PASOK, the situation is taking on potentially existential dimensions. If the rise recorded after the election of Androulakis – when many hoped that the party would establish itself as a strong third pole and play a decisive role in political developments – turns out to be something without prospects, then there is a risk of further retreat, causing internal upheavals with what this may entail for the future.

If the feeling that PASOK is unable to play the role it expected – under pressure by both main parties that are also aiming, each in its own way, the middle ground – becomes entrenched, then the desire of some centrist and undecided voters for a coalition government with the participation of a moderate party with respected and able members that would help prevent any kind of straying from the main path will also dissipate.

In this light, the challenge for Androulakis in the near future is to show whether he has the ability to overcome the difficulties of the current period, to reverse the climate of stagnation, and to convince the public that his party can and should become a government partner, while demonstrating a corresponding rise in the polls.