A woman listens to a speech of PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis in Nea Ionia on June 4. [Dimitris Peristeris/Intime News]
PASOK is seeking to move beyond what party officials view as a temporary slump in opinion polls by highlighting its governing credentials, unveiling a “shadow government” and accelerating efforts to attract former members and recruits from across the center left.
Party leader Nikos Androulakis used a meeting of the political council to present the staffing of PASOK’s policy sectors, arguing that the party already has a detailed plan for governing and the personnel needed to implement it. The move was intended to underscore PASOK’s readiness to form a government and regain lost political ground. Instead, public attention focused on recent polling setbacks and renewed debate over possible postelection alliances.
Party leaders dismissed such discussions as premature and distracting, saying they shift attention away from the party’s policy agenda and toward political speculation. Androulakis criticized what he called “political matchmaking” and declined to extend a dispute sparked by comments from Haris Doukas regarding cooperation with former prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
