Trench warfare is in full swing between ELAS and PASOK, with the more level-headed figures in both parties saying that “the situation is making Maximos Mansion happy”.PASOK headquarters, acting on its warning issued months ago that it “would respond to every provocation or attack” by figures in Alexis Tsipras’s camp, reacted angrily to an article by Thanasis Karteros in which he asks: “Is Mr Androulakis an idiot after all?” — because he insists that PASOK should come first in the election, “even if by a single vote”.
That is because, besides being an associate of Mr Tsipras — and, according to many, one of his speechwriters — the journalist is also an ELAS official, as a member of its National Council.
The conclusion put forward by PASOK’s leadership, therefore, was that the insulting reference to its leader was made “at the behest of the former prime minister”, in an effort to discredit Mr Androulakis.
After two days of awkward silence (the article in question was published on Saturday in Efimerida ton Syntakton), Mr Tsipras’s office on Amalias Street sought to lower the temperature, focusing on Mr Karteros’s right to write as an “independent voice”.
Mr Tsipras himself took charge of the firefighting effort during his visit to Crete yesterday. After again stressing the need for the parties in the political camp to agree on policy, he described “the political jostling” as natural given the rivalry and the approaching election, adding: “In any case, Androulakis is not my opponent. My opponent is Mitsotakis.”
At another point, he said: “I don’t fight with anyone. Have you seen me attack Androulakis? You haven’t seen me come out and denounce anyone, launch attacks or issue statements every day. Seven out of 10 public statements by PASOK officials are against ELAS.”
ELAS figures distance themselves from Mr Karteros
Reporters did not miss the unease voiced by ELAS figures over the label Mr Karteros used for Mr Androulakis.
The phrase “I wouldn’t have used it” was repeated in all their public statements, even as they tried to stick to the official line about the “independence of the journalistic voice”.
Some also agreed with the assessment that the recent incident in a television studio between ELAS deputy spokeswoman Anna Papadopoulou and former PASOK MP Dimitris Konstantopoulos, together with the “Karteros issue”, do little to advance the case for progressive cooperation.
“Quite the opposite: Mr Mitsotakis and Maximos Mansion cite them to convince voters that there is no scope for cooperation between ELAS and PASOK and, therefore, that New Democracy has no opponent.”
Giorgos Siakantaris, one of the authors of ELAS’s “Manifesto” but not a party official, also publicly criticised Mr Karteros. “What a disgrace!” he wrote, noting that “slips may be allowed in spoken language, but something like this must never be allowed in writing”.
Figures in both parties attribute the latest flare-ups to the October polls now under way, in which the key question will be whether the gap between ELAS and PASOK narrows further.
PASOK headquarters aims to overtake Mr Tsipras’s party by the end of the year, allowing PASOK to present itself as the leader of the progressive camp on the road to the election.
That means the fierce clashes — or what Mr Tsipras calls “political jostling” — will remain a fixture for at least the next two months.