By Despina Vlepakis

At a time when PASOK is under pressure in the polls and the scenarios for the creation of Tsipras’ party bring a waiting attitude to the voters, in Harilaou Trikoupi a dialogue begins about the Congress that you place in the first quarter of 2026.

The last time the doors of Harilaou Trikoupis were closed for a meeting of its official body PASOK it was the end of June, with yesterday’s meeting of the Political Secretariat of the KOES being read by many as having functioned as a relief valve for the internal issues of PASOK, with the climate generally being good, however the concern about the non-functioning of the organs was brought to the table by top party officials.

Pigadaki Androulakis with journalists

After the end of the marathon meeting, Nikos Androulakis he crossed the threshold of Harilaou Trikoupis in a good mood and talked to journalists. The president of PASOK was particularly concerned about the situation in Thessaly, which he recently visited and found out the huge blow that the region has received both from the weather phenomena and from the cases of corruption against the background of the OPEKEPE scandal. He also raised concerns about demographics and the fact that women are now leaving small communities for a better life. In relation to the OPEKEPE scandal, he emphasized that if there are new revelations concerning ministers “PASOK will follow the beaten path” showing a preliminary investigation.

With regard to the internal party and against the background statements of executives who expressed concerns – for example about the polling needle that must be moved by Christmas – interlocutors of the PASOK president said that in order to have a counterargument you must have a specific proposal.

What happened when the cameras went off?

Nikos Androulakis gave an internal message in his proposal, urging executives not to shoot themselves in the foot. “At the moment when there was a climate of upliftment, animation and faith in the project, there was a polyphony which is wealth, as long as it serves a common strategy. It is not worth the people of PASOK to make wrong statements or statements that can be misinterpreted and as New Democracy has powerful speakers, to take them and change the agenda trying to derail PASOK from its central political plan. Our world doesn’t deserve this, it’s letting it down. We need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot for no reason. We all have the same vision, the same plan and the same goal: On Sunday night, to have served the needs of the Greek people and the progressive world of the country”

However, the president of PASOK clarified that he will continue with the same strategy.

“This is who I am and this is how I will proceed”

“I know the difficulties and I have the experiences because for the past four years I have held many elections for the four years of my presidency. Many elections, with few weapons, with strong opponents and great autonomy from the entanglement. I know that PASOK is struggling, it could have a different approach, but I will be the one and this is how I will proceed. This does not change and it does not change because when I announced in 2021 that I will be a candidate, I made it a priority: I do not want PASOK to apologize for anyone again. And this is the party pride of the ordinary people of PASOK, that PASOK no longer apologizes,” he said.

The meeting lasted 5 hours, with the 22 members taking the floor in a political debate with positions and interventions that did not, however, reach a confrontational level, with several estimating that there was time credit until the conference.

All 22 members of the Political Secretariat gave their “present” in one way or another. Apart from Giorgos Papandreou, Yiannis Maniatis and Michalis Aerakis who participated in the meeting via zoom and also the mayor of Athens who was in Rio de Janeiro for a planned obligation, the rest were physically present in Harilaou Trikoupi.

However, Haris Doukas sent a letter with six proposals for the course of PASOK. He reinstated the proposal to block co-government with the ND and called for an open and inclusive Democratic Congress.

Haris Doukas: To rule out any co-government scenario with the ND – Open conference without divisions

“The institutional functioning of our party, the continuous and essential functioning of the organs, is a necessary condition. At the upcoming Congress, we should collectively decide and ratify that we rule out any co-government scenario with the ND. Of course, we are addressing the ordinary voters who had voted for the ND, but are now averse to corruption and their abandonment by the state. Let us make it clear that for PASOK the necessary Political Stability presupposes Political Change today. With a government that will have the support of society…

Because an autonomous course does not mean isolation. Because it offers the possibility of searching for common ground and programmatic convergences, for a strong progressive governance with PASOK as the main axis. A dialogue that can be extended to the major issue of the Constitutional Review. Of course, after forming the basis of our proposals…

Our great effort will succeed only with the whole-hearted enlistment of our executives. A prerequisite is the participation of everyone in the instruments, in the echelons, in the tours, in the political battle within the society. The different point of view is a wealth and should be composed through dialogue, and not treated with suspicion.

Let’s start by also planning an open, political, democratic Congress in February or March. With political dialogue in every corner of the country and with free use by all of the party’s technological capabilities. By highlighting each proposal submitted. With an open invitation to all who wish to participate in it, regardless of what they voted for in the previous elections. We open wide the doors of PASOK to every citizen.

With open registers during the election of congressmen, so that all citizens can express themselves. Not at a Conference of hard-hitting organizational mechanisms. Unity, Empowerment and Subversion Conference for Political Change. PASOK’s parliamentary representative Pavlos Geroulanos asked for a specific date for the Congress and an explosion of Democracy in the party, while he rang the bell for the time that is not infinite.

Pavlos Geroulanos: Congress of Renaissance and explosion of Democracy – We have work and no time

“Our country needs an explosion of democracy that will send the message everywhere that we are a state that puts the citizen first. But whatever we say in words about the future of the Motherland, we must support it today with our actions in the party…

1. In this context, in the context of us becoming the example for the Greece we want, today, I propose to you a Conference of the Renaissance of the faction, planning and implementing the “Democracy Explosion” primarily in the party.

a) With an open, electronic and public register that will also enable electronic voting on issues of concern to the party.

b) Secondly, by making use of each of our elected officials, at every level, from every corner of Greece. Why? Because they are connected to society like no other.

c) Third, an open democratic invitation to every progressive citizen, no matter what they voted for in the past, from the Left and the Center, to the disillusioned progressive voters of Mr. Mitsotakis. With targeted messages especially to those who voted for PASOK in the past, but are now abstaining from the ballot box.

d) Contemporary functioning of the institutions and organizations to support democracy and communication of the party. Bodies with specific objectives, agenda and accountability…

We have work and no time. We must hurry to show that we bring to society something new, something fresh, something dynamic. We have to show and prove that we mean what we say and apply it first. And that is why I propose not to leave here without a date for our Congress. I suggest March 21 and 22, the weekend before the Anniversary of our National Palygenesis. Because symbols also have their own value.”

Anna Diamantopoulou spoke about the opportunity to regroup the party before the elections to the Congress, who emphasized that disagreement is not introversion and unity is not imposed.

Annas Diamantopoulou: Founding conference – Disagreement is not a coronation

“The conference must have characteristics of a Founding Conference. To carve the story of PASOK in 2025 – a party that puts the country above all else… We should not find ourselves in the yard of New Democracy, with its conservative and dangerous views, nor in the small sea of ​​SYRIZA fragments. PASOK is the autonomous pillar of modern European Social Democracy in Greece.

In order to achieve this, we need the expression of all points of view. Diversity and diversity are a source of strength, not a threat. This diversity makes a party great. When there are proposals for the country and not just for personal differentiation and when there are rules that we all respect, then we really “let the flowers bloom”.

Disagreement is not introversion and unity is not enforced. It is the result of political composition and respect… Regarding the issues of current affairs, it is important that there is unanimity regarding the autonomy of PASOK, the need to talk and cooperate with parties, agencies, social groups, but our goal is clear for the elections and our autonomous descent.

Victory in the national elections is a self-evident political goal, noted Michalis Katrinis, who emphasized that the autonomous course does not mean isolation”.

Michalis Katrinis: The autonomous course does not mean isolation

“In this social moment of intense disapproval of the government, PASOK must make absolutely visible to everyone the clear, dividing lines that separate it from the Mitsotakis regime and that PASOK must be connected to the social demand for political change and liberation from the New Democracy government.

The political goal of winning the next elections is self-evident, asking for an evaluation of the strategy so far and whether it has paid off in this direction.

PASOK’s strategy must approach its traditional audiences, which for many reasons left PASOK in previous years. The autonomous course does not mean isolation or entrenchment and he proposed an organized dialogue with parliamentary parties and social movements that are closer, at the base of the faction’s program. Opening of PASOK to citizens and executives, “without face control”, with a clear stigma of expansion and the return of people to the faction and requested collective decisions at the conference on issues of strategy and post-election cooperation. He concluded by saying that with a bold strategy, PASOK can win the New Democracy in the next elections and achieve political change”.