PASOK MP: ‘We have to see what went wrong’ in EU elections
A lawmaker with socialist PASOK said on Thursday the party needs to establish “what went wrong” following disappointing results in the recent European elections.
“This is no time for a witch hunt,” Pavlos Geroulanos told Open TV. “Everyone is judged.”
His comments came as prominent lawmakers challenged party leader Nikos Androulakis after PASOK finished third, behind SYRIZA, on Sunday, missing their target of a second-place finish.
“PASOK’s goal was to become the second party. Nikos Androulakis had said that if we came third, it would be a political defeat,” he said, noting however the record-low turnout.
He also dismissed claims that PASOK doesn’t do well in Attica, Greece’s most populous region, adding that the party’s percentages went up compared to the other electoral contests.
Geroulanos also dismissed speculation that he will be one of the candidates in a possible leadership contest, saying “it is not time” for nominations.
On Wednesday, senior party official Odysseas Konstantinopoulos openly raised the issue of Androulakis’ leadership, calling for the immediate launch of procedures leading to elections for a leader in 2024.
He was followed shortly afterward by Nikos Papandreou – scion of the Papandreou political family – who moved in the same direction, and the issue quickly gained traction, with successive senior PASOK executives coming out openly in favor of a leadership election by the end of December.
