The three-day postponement of the PASOK Political Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow indicates that the party leadership needs time to assess the new developments : the founding of ELAS by Alexis Tsipras and its steady (so far) lead in the polls, as well as the resurgence of the big question “what do we do after the elections” by Anna Diamantopoulou and Haris Doukas.Yesterday’s poll (also) by Opinion Poll places ELAS in second place (13%) and Maria Karystianou’s “Hope” in third place (10.5%), with PASOK in fourth and, in fact, with a single-digit 8.8% in terms of voting intention.
Consequently, the party’s leadership decided to lower the weapons they had raised the previous week, when the first two polls were released, targeting the polling firms, and to adopt a more moderate defense. As is customary for new parties, they may attract voters upon their debut, but the road to the elections will be a marathon that will highlight platforms, policies, leaders, and so on.
At this difficult juncture, however, the issue of post-election coalitions has resurfaced, even as the leadership insists: an independent run in the elections with the goal of coming in first, and discussions about a coalition government under PASOK only if it is the leading party; otherwise, remaining in the militant opposition.
The commotion was sparked by two significant interventions:
-First, by Anna Diamantopoulou (last week), who reiterated the position she had been developing for months prior to the PASOK congress (March) that the election result is what will determine the post-election landscape. She even referred to a quote by François Mitterrand that the elections lie between the pre-election and post-election periods.
According to officials close to Ms. Diamantopoulou, her reinstatement was necessary to retain PASOK’s potential centrist voters (who are inclined toward New Democracy) and prevent them from being “scared off” by the party’s recent left-leaning rhetoric.
The same officials, of course, make no secret of their agreement to a government coalition with New Democracy, “even better without Mr. Mitsotakis as prime minister,” as they say.
Noting, however, that in such a discussion on election night, if there is no majority, PASOK must come to the table having strengthened its electoral position and not “like a poor relative trailing New Democracy by more than ten points.”
-Then, on Sunday, Haris Doukas fired his own salvo… from the left: if New Democracy reaches 25% (in the first polls), with PASOK and Tsipras’s ELAS “close behind in total” (at 25%), then “let’s discuss whether we can create a situation for an upset,” through a coalition government.
However, given that the electoral law does not grant the seat bonus to party coalitions, Mr. Doukas was asked under which party— PASOK or ELAS—the joint electoral campaign could take place to secure the bonus. His answer caused quite a stir at the Trikoupi headquarters, as he framed it as dependent on which of the two parties would emerge stronger from the polls.
Mr. Doukas certainly returned yesterday with a “clarifying” statement, which, however, concerned only the pre-election period and PASOK’s official position: an independent course—the goal being first place by a single vote…
The official party headquarters at 10 Trikoupi Street declined to comment, yet a quick look… on the Internet revealed PASOK members and supporters backing the party leadership launching harsh attacks on the mayor of Athens, using phrases like “Tsipras’s fifth column” and urging Nikos Androulakis “to expel him while there’s still time”.
All of the above indicate that PASOK’s leadership and officials have realized that if the party’s “third-fourth” position is cemented in upcoming polls (before the August lull), then a recovery will be very difficult.
A first glimpse of the poll results and the “reading” of the momentum being shownby …their eternal enemy, Mr. Tsipras, will be provided on Friday at the meeting of the PASOK Political Council. Either officially or through the usual leaks.