Former minister Pappas advocates SYRIZA-PASOK electoral alliance
Amid discussions about the future of Greece’s center-left following the European elections, former minister Nikos Pappas voiced support on Monday for a collaboration between the main opposition SYRIZA and the socialist PASOK in the upcoming national elections, inspired by France’s leftist alliance.
Speaking on Open TV, Pappas stressed the importance of a substantive dialogue between SYRIZA and PASOK to field a joint candidate for prime minister and a unified ballot.
“There are two significant political forces, SYRIZA and PASOK, capable of triggering developments,” he said, urging the two center-left parties to engage in talks.
“We need electoral cooperation. Consider what happened in France, where parties with extensive histories… spent four days in negotiations and reached agreements on candidates and platforms,” he pointed out.
The “Popular Front” alliance, formed after President Emmanuel Macron’s surprise call for parliamentary elections, includes the center-left Socialist Party, the Greens, the hard-left France Unbowed, and the Communist Party of France.
Pappas dismissed the idea of including the SYRIZA splinter party New Left in such a plan. He also expressed skepticism about the Course of Freedom party’s participation.
SYRIZA finished second in the June 9 European elections, two points ahead of PASOK in what turned out to be a lackluster performance for both parties.
