The PASOK party has officially entered full election mode, following Nikos Androulakis’s public assessment that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will call snap elections whenever it suits him politically. Yesterday, Androulakis began a series of personal meetings with prospective candidates — a process expected to continue — and effectively confirmed Giannis Sgouros as the party’s candidate for Athens A.
A Familiar Face in a New Role
Sgouros is no newcomer to PASOK — having been a longstanding member — but his candidacy marks a shift from local government, where he built his reputation, into the heart of national politics.
Preparations Underway
Candidate lists are being finalized, personnel moves are being coordinated, and PASOK is gearing up for two major thematic events in early July — one on Foreign Policy and National Defence, the other focused on pensioners — unless dramatic developments intervene.
Rhetoric and Rivalries
The party’s campaign tone is clear: New Democracy remains its sole electoral adversary, and PASOK aims squarely at unseating it from government. Yet, while targeting ND, PASOK leaders have also seized opportunities to respond to Alexis Tsipras and his party — underscoring that their model has already been tested and offers nothing new.
Evoking Papandreou, Challenging the Present
At a commemorative event in Kalentzi, Achaea — marking 30 years since the death of Andreas Papandreou — Androulakis delivered a pointed speech. Referencing a recent remark by Mitsotakis, he said: “Andreas Papandreou didn’t wait until 3 a.m. for History’s phone call. He was always present at its invitation.”
He also criticized political forces he described as cultivating division — not to strengthen parties rooted in membership, but to build ‘leader-centric’ or ‘ICH parties’ (a Greek acronym implying personality-driven, top-down structures). “The answer to so-called ‘Messiahs’ or ‘irreplaceables’ isn’t more fragmentation,” he stressed, “but unity, struggle, PASOK’s progressive vision, and faith in the democratic left’s principles and values.”
Historical References, Contemporary Critique
Former Prime Minister George Papandreou echoed this line, recalling PASOK’s historic commitment to national independence — a core aspiration of the party’s founder. With deliberate emphasis, he dismissed contradictory rhetoric: “We can’t one day speak of ‘Zappeion pledges’ and the next tear up memoranda. Those were empty promises — proven false.”
Kostas Skandalidis, referencing PASOK’s landmark 1981 victory, called it a historic turning point — the moment Andreas Papandreou ignited a genuine social revolution in Greece.