Nikos Androulakis, attended the presentation of the book “First time Left – Contrasts, contradictions, internal conflicts in PASOK in the period 1974-1990”

The position of the president of PASOK – KINAL at the presentation of the book:

“It is a special pleasure and honor to be here today, to talk about the book “First Time Left” by dear friend Vassilis Asimakopoulos, a book about PASOK and its history. I will try to be as brief as possible, and forgive me for not being able to stay until the end of the event, due to commitments. I consider it very important that a new round of dialogue is opening for the Democratic Party, because it gives us the opportunity to sobriety and composure to assess what happened in these 50 years of the Movement’s existence. At the same time, however, the opportunity is given to open a fruitful dialogue about the present and the future of the Democratic Party, but also of the country as a whole, because the history of a party is the history of a nation, as Antonio Gramsci writes, to whom he refers at the beginning of his book his author. This debate must be ongoing in order to fairly evaluate the policies that were implemented, without demonization and Manichaeism. To see what has helped move our society forward and what has led it to stagnation.

Vassilis Asimakopoulos is a versatile and multifaceted person. Political scientist, militant lawyer, with intense activist and cinematic activity. He is a profound scholar who perseveres over the records in order to articulate evidence-based discourse and tries to artfully synthesize theoretical knowledge with the study of historical documents. Another element that distinguishes him is the fact that he keeps alive the tradition of the “Italians” of PASOK, an important trend within the Democratic Party, with special care for national issues. Not long ago, the protagonist of this trend, the quintessential “Italian”, the late Michalis Charalambidis, who was a founding member of PASOK and associated his name with great initiatives such as the institution of May 19 as a day of remembrance, passed away. for the Pontian Genocide. It is our duty to recognize his valuable contribution to the Movement and the country.
The book “First time on the left”, which was originally Asimakopoulos’s doctoral thesis, has a very important feature that makes it special. Reading it, the readers do not come across an analysis-caricature, which aims to reduce the historical role of PASOK. Instead, they will encounter an interdisciplinary, robust and critical analysis of society’s relationship with the party and the state, of the party’s relationship with the rest of the party system and its internal party fronts, of the relationship between the national and international levels. In other words, Asimakopoulos tries to see the history of the party in its true dimensions, judging it sometimes harshly, but avoiding easy interpretative schemes. For this very reason, his contribution to political science and public debate is important.

When reading the book “First Time Left”, one point that will catch the reader’s attention and fascinate him is the fictional history of PASOK, from the era of the PAK and the anti-dictatorship struggle to the present day, a history that was not in no way linear. A second point of interest lies in the fact that PASOK is presented by Asimakopoulos at the same time as a product of a competitive political and party system and as a child of internal party struggle, always in relation to the changes in social formation that took place at that time. The two main tendencies within PASOK, as identified by the author, are a governmental one and a left-socialist one. These two trends, however, can co-exist and conquer unity because both want to transform the country. I am obliged at this point to note that *the main political tendencies, as in most parties of European social democracy or democratic socialism, are the forces of the progressive center and the progressive left*. And I say this because governmentism affected both of these tendencies, just as many people who were “at the center of the faction, but on the fringes of power”, had origins in both mainstreams. Despite their differences, however, they were united by the prospect of changing the country. They were united by the goal of the democratization of Greece at all levels of daily life and institutions. They were united by the need to deal with national and social issues through democratic institutions. But above all they were united by the urgent need for a new social contract.
Before I close my own speech and give the floor to the next speakers, I want to wish that this extremely interesting book, written by a man characterized by the courage of his opinion, will be embraced by the general public and become the occasion for fruitful reflections . This is precisely what I believe is the main motivation of Vassilis’ research, which honors me with his friendship. The topicality of the discussions about PASOK have to do with other things as well, such as the moment.

No one managed to replace PASOK, because its replacement plan was politically shallow. But it is not only that, it is also something much bigger: today’s social reality makes it necessary to have a dialogue about the unity and perspective of the Democratic Party and PASOK.

It is the policies of the ND, a faction that brought us to the brink of bankruptcy in 2009, managed a period after the memoranda with enormous degrees of fiscal freedom and the dowry from Europe of a pharaonic tool like the Recovery Fund, but where the people expected to improve his living conditions, things go from bad to worse.

The purchasing power of the Greek people is second from the end among the countries of the European Union. Rent prices have skyrocketed and food prices are constantly rising. The NHS – and the welfare state in general – is in a very difficult situation.

Business profits are third from the top in the 27 countries of the European Union, while at the same time wages are the second lowest as a percentage of GDP across Europe. But even institutions, independent authorities, human rights and justice have been targeted by the closed system of power of the Maximus Palace, also known as the ‘staff state.'”