Former EU Commissioner Diamantopoulou Jumping into PASOK Race

Politics

Former EU Commissioner Diamantopoulou Jumping into PASOK Race

July 15, 2024

Former European commissioner and minister Anna Diamantopoulou. (Photo by Eurokinissi/ Christos Bonis)

ATHENS – The race to take the helm of the struggling PASOK-KINAL center-left in October elections will likely get a sixth challenger in former European Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, expected to throw her hat in the ring.

Current party leader Nikos Androulakis is under siege in his own party after threatening to eject dissidents before he decided to call elections for Oct. 6 and a week later if no one gains a majority and a second round is needed.

Others in the field include new Athens Mayor Haris Doukas and former culture minister Pavlos Geroulanos and Members of Parliament Milena Apostolaki, Michalis Katrinis and Nadia Giannakopoulou.

Polls show that Diamantopoulou, who has name recognition, could attract ex-PASOK voters who switched to supporting Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsoakis as the Socialists crumbled.

But Diamantopoulou has been out of the public eye and away from PASOK, a once dominant party that fell out of popularity when a former leader, Evangelos Venizelos, took it into a coalition with a former New Democracy rule.

That was at the cost of backing austerity measures antithetical to the Leftists’ alleged principles and saw the party slide almost out of sight and into political irrelevance and then merging with KINAL.

Androulakis came under fire after PASOK finished a weak third in European Parliament elections and he has been unable to resurrect its fortunes although at times brought in past New Democracy’s major rival SYRIZA.

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