Oh, Andrea!

Various people posted comments. Others expressed surprise. I don’t know what the member of parliament might have been thinking, but to me, neither the scene nor the exclamation seemed strange. Rather, quite a few friends, party officials, citizens who love PASOK are thinking these days about the man who founded a party that, in seven years, took power and governed the country for half the duration of the Metapolitefsi.

And now? Now it is a party that is watching itself miss the boat—not only on winning the elections but also on retaining its core center-left. Now A. Tsipras has stepped up, and he seems to be drawing crowds that N. Androulakis was unable to attract, even though he “went it alone” for two full years. Thus, PASOK finds itself in the difficult position of fighting for third or fourth place with ELPIDA, led by Maria Karystianou.

PASOK failed to realize that it had found itself in the position of the official opposition thanks to its own SYRIZA, which had entered a phase of final disintegration. Even in the European elections, with New Democracy losing 12%, PASOK was in third place, behind SYRIZA led by S. Kasselakis.

However, this inability to grasp the situation persisted even when, following a stormy meeting of the Political Council and the Parliamentary Group, the party proceeded to elections that re-elected N. Androulakis as president once again.

And then? After a two-month surge in the polls that reached 18%–19%, support began to plummet to 12.5%–13.5%, where it had stabilized throughout that fateful year of 2025. Having come in first among centrist parties in the European elections, he chose to break away from that political space.

He opted for a supposed shift to the left that led to a dead end, since he was gaining support neither from the center nor from the center-left. It adopted a confrontational, sweeping tactic similar to the one chosen by A. Tsipras in 2019–2023 and paid the price. As a result, the party found itself with dismal poll numbers, and, to make matters worse, only a single-digit percentage of citizens considered its president suitable to be prime minister. He managed to achieve this all on his own, thanks to the leadership team’s choices and by essentially working to pave the way for A. Tsipras.

And now? When you’re playing on your own and can’t score, it’s probably going to be difficult to boost the poll numbers now. In fact, the polls show a clear decline. We’ll see, but the presence of the two new parties is putting him under intense pressure, and there don’t seem to be any defenses.

A. Tsipras is categorically rejected by 65%–70% of the public. His track record, both in opposition and in government, has generated widespread negativity toward him. However, A. Tsipras knows where to aim, and that is precisely what he is doing by targeting the PASOK base, given the current situation and public sentiment. At the same time, it seems as though his old acquaintances have been waiting for him as a messiah, which is why he appears so dynamic.

And PASOK? Beyond its problems with its narrative and the form of its opposition tactics, it faces three additional problems: It no longer has an electoral goal, because who believes it can come in first? It can no longer even maintain the position that it will be the pole of the progressive camp, because the distance from ELAS is growing. It doesn’t even have an alternative proposal for governing, because “no” never with New Democracy—combined with the ambiguity over who exactly it intends to form a government with—leaves it weak and vulnerable.

It faces a double threat. If A. Tsipras manages to further infiltrate PASOK and boost his poll numbers, then another faction within the party will look toward K. Mitsotakis—not wanting to allow any unexpected developments.

I suppose they’re considering all this within PASOK and will take some action. They’ve certainly wasted a lot of time, though; they’re showing an inability to adapt, and the danger that’s emerging is more than just significant. Once again, K. Simitis has been proven right once again; in his latest speech on the anniversary of the September 3 Declaration, he had said that now is the time for PASOK and that opportunities in politics are not given freely. They applauded him, but they either didn’t listen to him or didn’t understand what he meant. What a shame…

* The article was published on Liberal.gr