By Antonis Anzoletou

It was started by George Papandreou 20 years ago.

PASOK had lost power after eight years of rule by Costas Simitis and the former prime minister had chosen to take over the “helm” of Harilaou Trikoupis in the most solemn way. Over a million members and friends came to the internal party polls with the former prime minister as the only candidate.

Since then, “a lot of water has flowed down the drain” with New Democracy, but also SYRIZA following PASOK’s example by addressing all citizens. There is no condition of association of the citizen who comes to the ballot box with the party. The question is the large turnout that will prove the broad acceptance of the new leader and the social current that supports him.

Internal party elections based on absolute extroversion did not achieve their purpose most of the time. Many people accused the three parties that all they succeed in doing is liquidating them by turning them into person-centered ones.

At the SYRIZA conference in 2022, there was a big discussion with “Umbrella”, the then Left wing of the party, to react and request that the election of the leader remain the competence of the conference. The majority went ahead and Alexis Tsipras was re-elected president by more than 150,000 citizens who came to the screens. This event, regardless of the election result, was intended to give the former prime minister a boost that spring, as the national polls were only a year away.

There has been much debate as to whether this particular process allows extraneous factors to flow into the top party process and influence the final outcome. Whether it is the intervention of another rival party apparatus or even vested interests that want a candidate of their choice. The paradox of thousands of citizens being at the polls and voting while local organizations are empty is not an unusual phenomenon. Possibly another problem is the distortion of the member’s characteristics and role when he is indistinguishable from a mere “fan” of a candidate leader.

Could the parties go back to the previous model, with congress once again taking responsibility for electing the president? It is a fact that it will automatically be considered that the bureaucracy and the mechanisms “got ahead” and want to take over things, as in the case of SYRIZA and the election of Stefanos Kasselakis, the base cannot be controlled. In any case, the election by members and friends has the risk that the invitation will fall into the void, however, if mobilization is achieved, the mass origin can give another dynamic. After all, this is the big question and the three “big” ones have been led to open ballots.