DistantNews
Support us
🇬🇷 Greece /Elections & Politics

PASOK keeps its sights on first place

From Kathimerini · () Greek

Translated from Greek and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Context piece
  • PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis’ team says the party’s recent events have energized its base, while some officials question whether the message can reach wider audiences.
  • The party is encouraged by recent polls and plans to challenge Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ announcements with costed proposals.
  • PASOK says winning the election remains difficult but achievable and expects Alexis Tsipras’ party to lose momentum, potentially changing the current polling order.

PASOK is returning to an ambitious target: winning the election and finishing first. At the party headquarters in Harilaou Trikoupi, officials are assessing its recent campaign activity in Crete and an event marking the 52nd anniversary of its September 3 founding.

Nikos Androulakis’ team was pleased by the image of the old PASOK projected at the anniversary event. It believes the party’s base needs such symbols to mobilize. Some party officials, however, question whether that image can reach broader audiences, particularly in urban centers where PASOK lost support during the years of Greece’s bailout memorandums.

The party is also watching polls that look more encouraging than they did a few months ago. It points to an Interview poll for Political showing losses for the party led by Alexis Tsipras and a narrowing gap between that party and PASOK. PASOK officials expect to study Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ announcements at the Thessaloniki International Fair and challenge them with policy proposals they say have already been costed and placed in the public debate.

Our opponent is not the middle class that may have a pendant or a piece of jewelry. The opponent is the funds, the banks and the excess profits, and that is where taxes should be imposed.

· Kostas TsoukalasThe PASOK spokesman criticized proposals linked to taxing movable property and redirected the party’s focus toward financial institutions and excess profits.

They are also scrutinizing Tsipras’ statements. The party’s central criticism is that they lack sufficient documentation, a weakness it says was exposed by confused comments from officials in Tsipras’ party. PASOK aims to benefit from those errors, including a dispute over the taxation of movable property.

Opposition party spokesman Kostas Tsoukalas said, “Our opponent is not the middle class that may have a pendant or a piece of jewelry. The opponent is the funds, the banks and the excess profits, and that is where taxes should be imposed.” He later described victory as difficult but achievable and necessary. PASOK officials believe Tsipras’ party will gradually lose the momentum of its initially impressive rise, and that PASOK’s current third-place polling position could soon change. Tsoukalas said this should become clear within two or three months, adding that a faster shift would increase the chances of defeating New Democracy.

I am not saying that the goal of winning is an easy goal. It is a difficult goal, but it is an achievable goal and it is also a necessity.

· Kostas TsoukalasTsoukalas described PASOK’s aim of winning the election as difficult but attainable.
About this summary

Originally published by Kathimerini in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog