When Nikos Androulakis was elected leader of socialist PASOK in 2021, at the age of 42, his dream, besides reviving his party and ousting the ruling conservatives, was to bring forward a new, younger leadership. He did not openly shun the veterans, but he did not want them to be seen as his patrons, either.
Fast forward to autumn 2025, with PASOK stuck in a rut in opinion polls and former prime minister Alexis Tsipras announcing his plans for a new left party, Androulakis turned to two veterans, former ministers and party secretaries. Costas Laliotis, 75, has a less visible role as a backroom analyst and strategist, while Kostas Skandalidis, 73, was entrusted with luring back those who joined SYRIZA in the 2010s, when PASOK’s share of the vote went from nearly 44% and electoral triumph to under 5% and seventh place in just over five years. His recruits have not always been welcomed with unalloyed joy.
With Tsipras’ new party leaping over PASOK in opinion polls, another vet, Christos Protopapas, 69, has been tasked with reviving the socialists’ fortunes in the Athens area, where they appear especially weak.
PASOK NIKOS ANDROULAKIS ELECTIONS
