There is unrest and division within PASOK over the partnerships and messages sent by Anna Diamantopoulou and Paulos Geroulanos.
In recent days both Anna Diamantopoulou and Paulos Geroulanos have made sure to send their own messages to the leadership of Nikos Androulakis regarding the partnerships. Messages that are causing turmoil in the party.
First Anna Diamantopoulou said that PASOK cannot under any circumstances cooperate with Alexis Tsipras, as everyone remembers his governmental past. At the same time, she stressed that PASOK’s main rival is New Democracy but until the elections, a formulation that for many opens the door for a future cooperation with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, if required.
Almost in the same vein was Pavlos Geroulanos, who, while stressing that New Democracy must go, said something else that provoked discussion at Charilaou Trikoupis: that PASOK will work with whoever agrees with its agenda, without excluding New Democracy.
The PASOK leadership knows that these statements are not accidental and are openings to both the government and a centrist audience, regardless of whether Nikos Androulakis has decided to follow the rhetoric of Zoe Konstantopoulou. As an old PASOK parliamentarian used to say, there are serious and experienced members of the party who are looking beyond the elections, and especially the possibility that the country may not be governed.
The reactions
The Geroulanou – Diamantopoulou line finds many within PASOK in agreement, as many executives admit behind closed doors that a cooperation with New Democracy cannot be ruled out, especially if it is far ahead in the elections.
However, in PASOK there is an equally strong side that rules out any possibility of cooperation with New Democracy, even if the country remains ungovernable. The main spokesman for this line is Charis Doukas, who not only does not want to talk about cooperation with Kyriakos Mitsotakis but also converges politically with Alexis Tsipras.
As Charis Doukas said in an interview about what Anna Diamantopoulou claimed, we are neither in 2015, nor in 2019 for PASOK to quarrel with Alexis Tsipras and stressed that no one should be excluded from progressive governance with the aim of removing New Democracy. He even responded to what Paulos Geroulanos said that “No, we will not discuss with everyone, not with New Democracy we are not discussing”.
There are not a few people who say that PASOK after the elections will find a way to approach Alexis Tsipras, besides, there are already persons and powerful centers that promote such a scenario.
In short, a dispute is developing in PASOK about the strategy the party should follow after the elections. Either way, most people are predicting that the election result will not be at all positive for Nikos Androulakis and developments will be launched that will go beyond the party’s chairman.
