There are still two weeks to go before the first round of the election for a new President for PASOK. Recent polls haven’t revealed much public interest in the proceedings (Pulse, 18/9), but two weeks is long enough to prove them wrong come voting day.
What is certain is that, to date, the six candidates have conducted their campaigns in a respectful manner indicative of a well-intentioned political culture. The face-off hasn’t descended into brawling or led to the sort of vulgar name-calling we’ve been treated to by SYRIZA. And as we know, in this little nation of ours, it generally takes a quarrel or a clash to excite our interest.
But as we wait for the televised candidates’ debate (Tuesday 24/9, 9 pm, ERTnews), and without wanting to rush to any conclusions before the fact, what is already clear is that we haven’t got any wiser.
We’ve heard all the candidates say they’d like a stronger and larger PASOK, but we haven’t heard any details from any one of them on how this is to come about.
Some candidates have simply placed more emphasis on the party’s need to remain autonomous, while others have been stealing glances at partnerships–mostly leftwards leaning–out of the corner of their eye.
But none of this lays the foundations for “bigger and stronger”. Even the goal of PASOK being the “first party in 2027” is little more than well-meaning cheer-leading. For the PASOK of today to become the first party of 2027, it will have to make more progress over the next three years under its new leader than the PASOK of Andreas Papandreou did in 1977-1981. So not easy, then.
Which is to say the PASOK of 2024 isn’t just looking for a leader or a specific number of votes or seats. What it’s seeking above all else is an identity and a role. And this won’t suddenly materialize on the evening of 13 October, when the polls close after the second round. It needs planning and hard work. And, above all, it needs us to feel that a traditional Greek party can change, renew itself and grow fifty years after its foundation.
And that’s not something we can take for granted. But neither is it out of the question.
Just as long as the new leader doesn’t rest on the laurels of PASOK’s glorious past and sets out instead to build a new PASOK that is also a different PASOK.
Then anything will be possible.
The good news is that the civilized leadership battle hasn’t shown the party in a bad light or revealed any insoluble internal differences that could jeopardize future unity
What is less good is that we will have to wait for the electoral process to reach its end to see not whether PASOK has lost, but whether it has emerged stronger than it went in.
