By Antonis Anzoletou

PASOK has no time to waste. There are only 20 days left until the European elections and image that has been consolidated through opinion polls is that Nikos Androulakis will finish behind Stefanos Kasselakis despite the fact that it was considered that in Charilaou Trikoupis they had a great chance to restore the duopoly that dominated the post-political years until 2012.

The president of PASOK presents his party as the only opposition force that has program proposals and can threaten Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the next parliamentary elections. This, however, needs to be captured on the evening of June 9. Everything shows, so far, that in the “green camp” they will move at a slower pace than they initially estimated.

Some inside may be waiting in the “corner” for Nikos Androulakis from the moment the second place is lost, however a result of more than 11.84% (last national elections) and certainly more than 7.7% (European elections 2014) is not will be interpreted by the leadership team as a failure. Several executives in PASOK believe that the time from now on will not flow in favor of Stefanos Kasselakis. Not only because he will be out of Parliament for the next three years, but mainly because they are talking about “political poverty” of the official opposition leader.

From yesterday’s joint presence of Nikos Androulakis with the candidate for the leadership of the Commission, Nicolas Schmidt, it is clear that the president of PASOK will also invest a lot in his European profile from his term in Brussels. The other big bet for Mr. Androulakis is to win the urban centers and especially Attica, where half the population of the country is located. That didn’t happen last summer. In the next period in Harilaou Trikoupi they will focus on the neighborhoods of the city. They still believe that the battle is not lost.

In contrast to SYRIZA, PASOK’s audience is not unknown and is clearly more “concrete”. What they typically say is that whatever surprise they expect will be “upward”. There are many undecided and disillusioned voters they wish to reach and they come from the center-left space. The last minute vote will decide the final result. On Friday in the Parliament, Nikos Androulakis will have the opportunity to develop PASOK’s positions to be precise.