Effervescence prevails in PASOK with the atmosphere electrifying in the party. During the meeting of the party’s Central Committee, Nadia Giannakopoulou and Odysseas Konstantinopoulos openly expressed their disagreement with the president of PASOK-KINAL, Nikos Androulakis, regarding the Non-State Universities Bill and the party’s attitude.

Nikos Androulakis from his side insists on enforcing party discipline.

“Nobody understood why we say ‘no’ to the Pierrakaki bill,” he is reported to have said. Odysseus Konstantinopoulos who, addressing the leader of PASOK, insisted that there should have been a meeting on the party’s strategy for the controversial issue.

“Georgos Papandreou voted for non-state universities in 2006 under Karamanlis and was in favor of non-state universities. Giorgos Papandreou has always held the same position. Don’t cut corners on the words of Giorgos Papandreou. As president, you spoke your opinions, so I will tell her too!” Mr. Konstantinopoulos is reported to have stated

“Didn’t you call us to tell you our opinion, those of us who studied abroad or have our children abroad, as you had told us?”, Mr. Konstantinopoulos added, raising the tension in the room.

“What do you propose?”, Mr. Androulakis asked him, while a confrontation followed with Nadia Giannakopoulou, who has also been in favor of the upvoting of the Pierrakakis bill.

Mrs. Giannakopoulou for her part, she stated that there is a problem with the institutional functioning of the Parliamentary Group. “We are not employees. We cannot ratify decisions that come to us at the last minute,” he said and added that the Nordic model for universities that the party leadership is promoting is not in his program.

The PASOK MP claimed that by voting against “we identify with those who are fighting for the only monopoly that exists in Greece, that of Higher Education”.

Androulakis: “I will not allow there to be a rift in the vote for non-state universities”

Finally, the deputies of PASOK-Movement of Change took the decision to vote against the bill for non-state universities, after a three-hour-plus meeting with Nikos Androulakis warning: “I will not allow there to be a rift in the vote.”

According to an informal briefing, the president of PASOK-Movement for Change noted that “the perennial programmatic position of our party is the establishment of non-state non-profit universities with a revision of Article 16”. In fact, Nikos Androulakis asked for a text of commitment from all to be drawn up, to change the disputed article during the revision of the Constitution for the establishment of non-state, non-profit universities.

Explaining what PASOK wants, Mr. Androulakis mentioned how the pursuit is:

– strong public university

– strong non-state non-profit universities,

– and strong regulation of post-secondary education.

THE Nikos Androulakis harshly criticized Kyriakos Mitsotakis, saying among other things that the absence of a counter proposal helps him. “It is not possible that some people have been buying and investing for two years, and a bill comes cut and sewn on their investments. This is not an arrangement,” said the president of PASOK-KINAL. “However, we have a complete proposal, both for the correct framework for the operation of non-state non-profit universities, as well as for the strengthening of the public university”, he added and emphasized: “With the bill, it is possible for a fund and a for-profit university to abroad, to establish an essentially profit-making branch in our country. Greece was a European exception and Mr. Mitsotakis makes us an exception again, as the establishment of for-profit foreign branches will be allowed, but not Greek non-profit universities.”