Christos Kaklamanis, a close associate of Nikos Androulakis, admitted that the goal of coming in first for PASOK has become much more difficult following the emergence of Alexis Tsipras’s party, while he also spoke of an overall crisis of social democracy in Europe.
Cracks in PASOK’s narrative of leadership
Christos Kaklamanis, a senior member of PASOK and a close associate of Nikos Androulakis.
Speaking to ERTNews, he was asked to explain why the official opposition party is not reaping greater political benefits from the government’s decline. His response was truly revealing.
“When we’re in third place in the polls, saying that our goal is first place is something that has made things very difficult,” he admitted.
He then turned his criticism toward the broader European social democracy, stating: “Social democracy as a whole isn’t popular; it doesn’t resonate with Europeans. It has failed to propose tangible, concrete, and measurable solutions to citizens.”
The reference to Tsipras’s party
Christos Kaklamanis directly linked today’s poll results to the emergence of Alexis Tsipras, arguing that it has changed the political landscape.
“Let’s not kid ourselves—things have gotten tougher. A one-vote victory—that’s what we used to say about Tsipras’s party; now we have this polling scenario,” he noted.
At the same time, he assessed that the new political movement will not lead to a decline for PASOK, though it does limit its momentum.
“Clearly, the emergence of Tsipras’s party poses a problem for PASOK’s continued rise. I don’t think it will drag PASOK down, but it does create a problem with fragmentation at the top, while a major recruitment battle has also begun,” he said.
