PASOK: Finalists weigh strategies and voter dynamics ahead of runoff vote
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. However, starting Monday morning, the teams of the two finalists, Androulakis and Doukas, are already gearing up for the final week of campaigning that will determine the ultimate winner.
A key question is whether the two candidates will hold a televised debate. According to current information, both camps are leaning toward a debate, possibly modeled after the first TV duel that included all six candidates. It remains to be seen when the two teams will sit down together to agree on the terms, as time is pressing with the runoff set for Sunday.
On Monday morning, Doukas announced that he had contacted public broadcaster ERT to request a debate. “It is important for us to engage in a live and productive dialogue about the future of PASOK,” he said.
Another crucial issue concerns how the voters of the four candidates who did not advance to the second round will cast their ballots. The combined pool of these candidates is estimated to represent about 150,000 votes. Notably, Androulakis received 89,200 votes in the first round, while Doukas garnered 64,490. Thus, the voters of Yeroulanos and Anna Diamantopoulou, the former EU commissioner, represent a critical and potentially decisive force.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how many citizens will turn out for Sunday’s runoff. It is worth noting that in the corresponding electoral process in 2021, participation dropped significantly from 270,000 voters in the first round to just 207,000 in the second round.
When asked whether he intends to endorse either of the two finalists in the runoff, Yeroulanos said, “I don’t believe that the citizens coming to vote need to be guided in any particular way. I consider that everyone who voted for my candidacy did so with their own opinion; they were not people pushed by one side or the other. I don’t think they expect me to say who will win in the next round. The race is still open.”
Diamantopoulou declined to answer a similar question. MP Michalis Katrinis said that “who will lead the party will be decided freely and independently by the citizens,” while Nadia Giannakopoulou has repeatedly expressed the need for a change in the party’s leadership during the campaign.
One factor influencing strategy is that Androulakis undoubtedly starts as the favorite, given his clear lead and the support he received from nearly one-third of the electorate. Doukas, on the other hand, raised the stakes for the runoff race immediately after the announcement of the results, declaring, “70% of voters are calling for a change in leadership.”
The final key issue involves analyzing the results from Sunday’s election by electoral district. While Androulakis and Doukas performed well in the regions, they faced challenges in the Attica region and urban centers. Notably, in the Attica region, the current president of PASOK secured third place with 20.8%, while the mayor of Athens finished fourth with 17.9%.
