PASOK to elect leader on November 11

[Ellinas]

The main opposition PASOK party's leader for the next four years will be elected on November 11, according to an announcement made by party spokesman Yiannis Raggousis at the end of a PASOK's Political Council meeting on Thursday, after the party sustained a serious defeat in last Sunday's general elections and leader Georgios Papandreou asked for a renewal of confidence.

"All the members of the Political Council committed themselves unanimously to enable PASOK to turn, all of them making the impossible possible, this difficult time into a great opportunity of reconstruction and revival for the party," the spokesman said.

Raggousis stressed that the Political Council "confirmed at the same time that the party's top priority is to exercise responsibly and systematically the role that it has assumed with the mandate of the Greek people, both inside and outside the Greek Parliament, to defend the interests of the country, the interests of the Greek people."

Referring to the procedures agreed on, the spokesman said that "following the address made by the party's secretary, Mr. (Nikos) Athanasakis, and with the agreement of the members, it was agreed in principle that the Political Council will convene once again with the purpose of discussing the proposal to be prepared by members of the body, a proposal concerning the causes of the party's recent election performance in the latest national elections."

He added that "secondly, the party's National Council will convene on October 6 and 7 which, in turn, will convene the National Conference, that will take place on November 3 and 4, for November 11 to come when we shall have the heightening of this sustained and united course of the party with the election of the president of the party for the next four years."

Lastly, Raggousis said that "immediately, after the period following November 11, the regular congress of the party will be programmed and organised, as this is anticipated by the charter, that has already been ratified."

ANA

[Paleo]

Georgey must step down from domestic Greek politics.

He will be better utilised as a servant for Greece as a diplomat in the EU or the UN.

As Foreign Minister under Simitis, he was effective, respected, and did get the ear of the heavy weights in the EU and across the Atlantic.

I hope that the domestic politics and his demotion in PASOK won't be the end of him.

[Ellinas]

So far we know that Venizelos will be Giorgakis' opponet in the PASOK election. There is also a possibility that Anna Diamantopoulou will put in a candidacy too.

[Ellinas]

Third PASOK runner possible

The possibility of a third candidate standing in the PASOK leadership race appeared to increase yesterday as party leader Georgios Papandreou and his challenger Evangelos Venizelos began to prepare their strategies for the November 11 ballot.

Sources within the Socialist party indicated that 48-year-old Athens MP Anna Diamantopoulou was close to announcing her candidacy on Thursday night but decided to hold back so she could first canvas support.

Diamantopoulou is a former EU commissioner for employment and social affairs and has yet to declare her support for Papandreou or Venizelos.

Another PASOK heavyweight considering his position is 69-year-old former Foreign and Culture Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who refused to rule out running for leader during a televised interview yesterday.

Other possible candidates include former Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou, ex-Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis, former party spokesman Petros Efthymiou and ex-Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis.

“There are some people who say that another solution has to be found,” said Vasso Papandreou yesterday. “This may or may not happen.”

Georgios Papandreou’s team, meanwhile, began contacting regional party officials and encouraging them to convince local members to vote for the current leader. Venizelos chose instead to attack the government, saying it was vital that New Democracy should not be allowed to feel that it can “move freely.”

KATHIMERINI

[Ellinas]

What's happening these days is maybe the biggest crisis in the history of PASOK. The hostility between its members the day of the Parliament swearing was obvious.

According to gallop-polls, Venizelos is going to be the winner in the upcoming PASOK elections. It looks like Giorgakis believes that the party belongs to him because it was founded by his father, and he isn't ready to accept such an contingency. That's why PASOK is in two sides now: Venizelos and Giorgakis supporters.

The possibilities vary, with the split of the party being possible too. Something like this would bring many changes in the politics of the country.

[Takis83]

Originally Posted by Ellinas
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What's happening these days is maybe the biggest crisis in the history of PASOK. The hostility between its members the day of the Parliament swearing was obvious.

According to gallop-polls, Venizelos is going to be the winner in the upcoming PASOK elections. It looks like Giorgakis believes that the party belongs to him because it was founded by his father, and he isn't ready to accept such an contingency. That's why PASOK is in two sides now: Venizelos and Giorgakis supporters.

The possibilities vary, with the split of the party being possible too. Something like this would bring many changes in the politics of the country.

I am not a PASOK voter, but something like this would be catastrophic. A strong government and political system presuppose a strong opposition.

[Ellinas]

Skandalidis joins race for PASOK leadership

Top main opposition PASOK deputy and former minister Costas Skandalidis on Friday announced that he will run for party president during the Nov. 11 election, the third official candidacy since PASOK's defeat in the Sept. 16 election.

Skandalidis declared his intention to vie for the party helm following expressed candidacies by current PASOK president George Papandreou and high-profile MP Evangelos Venizelos.

Skandalidis, a former party secretary, expressed what he called a strong belief that PASOK supporters and all those following the fluid developments in the party over the past few days are "looking for such a candidacy."

"The intention is to unite and not to cause a rift," said Skandalidis, adding that the purpose of his candidacy is to politicise procedures. He stressed that he advocates unity, new ideas and proposals for a radical and democratic left that will bring together all progressive forces.

Skandalidis stated he respects and honors both Papandreou and Venizelos.

ANA

[Ellinas]

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[Ellinas]

Papandreou addresses PASOK Political Council

Main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou criticised the government during his party's Political Council meeting on Thursday, while also referring to procedures for the election of the party's leader on November 11 and to the outcome of the September 16 general elections.

Papandreou said that the party's "grassroots want democratic and open procedures to be safeguarded," adding that the party's grassroots, its bodies and he personally guarantee the party's unity and the safeguarding of procedures.

He reiterated that ballot boxes must be open to the end and added that there is the possibility of agreement with regard to the approval of candidacies, otherwise voting can take place.

As regards an assessment on the outcome of the general elections, the PASOK leader said that he has made an initial evaluation twice, on the day of the elections and during the Parliamentary Group meeting.

Focusing on government policy, Papandreou said that the aim of PASOK "is always to defend the interests of the people against a neo-conservative policy that is being applied by the ruling New Democracy (ND) party."

He also made reference to the state budget and to "taxes being imposed by the government, as well as to the secret agenda that is opening gradually," as he said, and "which will burden the average and poorer Greek even more."

The Political Council unanimously confirmed a previous agreement on procedures for the election of the party's president on November 11.

The meeting did not focus on the causes of the party's defeat in the September 16 general elections, which will be an issue to be examined by the National Council over the weekend, without any proposal being made by the Political Council.

PASOK spokesman Yiannis Raggousis said that the timetable and the procedures for the election of the party president that have already been agreed on, apply in full.

ANA

[Ellinas]

PASOK leadership campaign in full swing

The campaign for the November 11 internal party elections in main opposition PASOK for a new leadership was in full swing on Sunday, with the three contenders speaking at rallies and giving interviews on television and in the Sunday press.

PASOK leader George Papandreou, in his first public party appearance after the September 16 general elections that plunged the party into crisis after its defeat and the re-election of the New Democracy (ND) party, called for a "new beginning" for his Panhellenic Socialist Movement "which the Greek society also wants".

Addressing a lunch in Haidari hosted at the initiative of mayors and prefects backing Papandreou in the leadership race, which was attended by some 30 mayors and 140 local government officials from the Attica prefecture, the PASOK leader thanked them for their support for that new beginning.

"We have ahead of us much to change, first of all a political system that manipulates the political forces and local government".

He said that the new party profile he has proposed will have "the forces for us to head to victory", and criticised the party's course to date, speaking of "large, serious changes that we did not dare make but must dare to make".

"I know that there are interests that do not want us to make changes. I know that the clientelle relations are a canker that did not allow us to make changes. It is these perceptions that we are fighting and want to break," Papandreou said.

Papandreou's main opponent for the party leadership, MP and former minister Evangelos Venizelos, said that PASOK needed "a different type of political leader", addressing an event in Argos on Sunday during a tour of Argolida prefecture.

He said it was necessary to make use of all the cadres capable of representing the party's positions everywhere: in parliament, in the media, with the people. A new PASOK that was genuinely democratic and renewed in its actions, was necessary.

The party will choose what it wants for the country. The quandary is a historical one, Venizelos said, adding that in order to see who expresses PASOK, the climate of consensus and political culture must be preserved. "The procedure is not introvert, it is necessary for the party to enter society. PASOK exists due to the people, to whom we must give a substantive content of hope and prospect for the entire Greek people," he said.

In an interview appearing in the Sunday edition of Eleftheros Typos newspaper, Venizelos said that he wanted to act as "the first among equals" when elected to the PASOK presidency, adding that his target was to ensure the collectivity and democratic operation of the party.

Asked what stance PASOK should take on the proposed Constitutional revision, Venizelos said that after November 12 (the day after the party leadership elections), a discussion must be made on whether abstention meant "abstention only from the voting (in parliament) or also from the debates".

He further said that he considered early general elections a possibility, while on the change of the electoral law he called it "toying with the institutions". PASOK, he concluded, must be prepared at all times, as required by the role of main opposition party and the nature of a large leadership party struggling for the people and the country.

The third candidate, MP and former minister Costas Skandalidis, expressed his optimism that he would be one of the candidates in a second round of voting for the PASOK leadership, in an interview appearing in the Sunday edition of To Vima newspaper.

Asked about the "morning after" the internal party elections, Skandalidis stressed that it was everyone's duty to respect the outcome of the vote and surround the new party leader, regardless of who won, with confidence.

Skandalidis opined that, after PASOK's defeat in the national elections, the party's Political Council should have tendered its resignation, although, as things have developed, that would have been an "act of demogogy".

Regarding Papandreou's accusations that some quarters in the party were undermining him, Skandalidis said he considered it incomprehensible to believe that there existed party cadres who were consciously undermining the party's leadership in order to lead it to defeat.

ANA