ATHENS – Greece’s former Prime Minister George Papandreou will have five challengers in his bid to become leader of the marginal center-left Movement for Change (KINAL) party that is politically irrelevant.

The party is made up mostly of former members of the now-defunct PASOK Socialists he led before resigning in 2011 after calling for a referendum on austerity measures as part of a first international bailout.

Ten years later he’s on the comeback trail although his tenure was so disastrous it diminished PASOK which went under after backing austerity that was antithetical to its alleged principles, a move made to become a junior partner in a coalition led by its rival, the New Democracy Conservatives.

Incumbent leader Fofi Gennimata pulled out of the leadership race last week, after she was hospitalized for health reasons and the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency (ANA-MPA) said the other candidates to replace her are Member of the European Parliament Nikos Androulakis, Pavlos Christidis, former minister Pavlos Geroulanos, former minister Haris Kastanidis, and Member of Parliament Andreas Loverdos.