The PASOK party finds itself in an increasingly difficult position as weeks pass without any meaningful shift in the polling landscape — a situation first observed after the founding of Alexis Tsipras’s new party. For over a month now, PASOK has consistently ranked third or even fourth in public opinion surveys. These polls will soon go quiet during the traditional summer ‘people’s holidays’, leaving political actors in a holding pattern until September, when they are expected to return in waves — timed with the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) and other key events.
A Fading Goal, But Still the Goal
Against this backdrop, PASOK officials face the delicate task of defending their stated aim of winning the next national elections — even by a single vote ahead of New Democracy — while watching that goal recede further into the distance. Christos Kaklamani, PASOK’s Justice Spokesperson, recently acknowledged publicly that the party should not ‘delude itself’, noting that the target was set before Tsipras’s political re-emergence and the current low poll numbers. Yesterday, Nadia Giannakopoulou echoed that realism in an interview with ERT, saying: ‘The situation objectively makes it harder — yet the goal remains.’ She stressed PASOK’s deep roots and resilient cadre, who will continue fighting with determination and optimism.
Fluidity in the Political Landscape
Many PASOK MPs and senior figures point to significant volatility in the polls — especially following the emergence of both Tsipras’s new party and Nikos Karystianos’s group. This fluidity, they argue, leaves room for movement and continued campaigning. Some even anticipate further turbulence in the coming months, particularly with reports that a new party under Antonis Samaras may soon enter the scene.
Earlier, Pavlos Geroulanos had also highlighted this volatility, suggesting it delays voters’ final decisions — which, in his view, strengthens the case for intensive door-to-door campaigning and robust communication of PASOK’s government programme. His aim is to get voters off the couch and into the ballot box — choosing the party founded by Andreas Papandreou.
Geroulanos recalled another moment of apparent weakness: in 2008, when Tsipras first assumed leadership of SYRIZA and appeared stagnant in the polls — only for PASOK to surge later and win the subsequent election with its second-highest vote share in history.
Transfer Speculation Gathers Momentum
Meanwhile, speculation is intensifying around potential high-profile transfers — spurred anew by Theodora Tzakri’s resignation from Stefanos Kasselakis’s party. Her possible return to PASOK — where her political career began — has been whispered about for months. A recent amendment to PASOK’s statute appears to have cleared logistical hurdles for such moves, opening the door for figures like Tzakri, as well as Maria Kasimati and Yiannis Apostolakis.