Androulakis finishes first in PASOK leadership contest

Constantine Capsaskis

Newsletter Editor

Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. Center-left party PASOK held the first round of its leadership elections on Sunday.

Incumbent Nikos Androulakis and Mayor of Athens Harris Doukas are likely to advance to the run-off that will be held next Sunday, October 13.

Androulakis saw strong electoral performances in his home of Crete (approximately 62%) and in non-urban Greece, arguably his core audience demographic. Doukas, who is widely considered to be on the left end of his party, also performed well in rural voting centers while lagging behind his fellow candidates in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Notable party members Pavlos Geroulanos and Anna Diamantopoulou both narrowly seem to have missed the cut, with both candidates however having strong performances in Greece’s urban centers. Geroulanos in particular seems to have come very close to challenging Doukas for second place, with the race being too close to call until the very end.

Overall, the leadership contest saw a turnout exceeding 300,000 voters, breaking the previous record of 2021 (270,000 voters). PASOK officials have expressed their satisfaction with the high number of voters that went to the ballots, stating that this cements the comeback of PASOK as a significant factor in Greek politics.

This mirrors recent similar statements over the viewing numbers of the party’s leadership debate and the general public interest in the contest.

Spotlight

• A shadow hung over the 50th anniversary celebrations of ruling party New Democracy as its two former living prime ministers decided not to attend. The decision by Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras, who both received personal invitations from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, illustrates the deepening fractures within the party . “I did my duty” in reaching out to them, noted Mitsotakis. It is worth noting that this is not the first time the two former prime ministers have chosen to show their disagreement with the current government. This lack of harmony within the party is also obvious in Parliament, with MPs from the ruling party questioning government ministers for the second straight week. The MPs are considered to be associates of the two former premiers.

?

• Controversy over a new Construction Code issued by the government has led to a decrease in private construction activity as the ongoing tug-of-war between municipal authorities and citizen interest groups on the one hand and property developers and the ministry on the other has not been resolved. The crux of the issue is the height restrictions , and whether existing planning permits that used ‘bonuses’ to add height are retroactively affected by the new regulations. There are several cases against permits that have already been issued, with almost all buildings licensed under the new regime at risk of seeing work suspended or even having their building permit revoked. The Council of State is set to meet next week to rule on the issue, with both sides preparing their legal cases.

MUST READS

Living in the past

PASOK is back on our TV screens

SYRIZA’s political sideshow

OPINION

Challenging times for Greek political parties

Tom Ellis

Editor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition

The Greek political system is going through challenging times.

Despite the “safe” distance separating?New Democracy from its main rivals on the center-left, PASOK and SYRIZA, the ruling party is torn between three fractions; the one controlled by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the other two led by his two predecessors at the helm of ND and former prime ministers, Kostas Karamanlis and Andonis Samaras.

The divisions – the result of ideological differences, objections on moral grounds, but also personal animosity – run deep and there is no prospect of relations being restored anytime soon.

To what extent that dire reality will impact the party’s appeal remains to be seen.

For its part, SYRIZA is going through its own identity crisis for many months now, that culminated in the expulsion of its former leader Stefanos Kasselakis.

Now with its upcoming congress and leadership elections, in which Kasselakis is once again a candidate, the atmosphere is heavy and the party is in disarray with daily personal attacks.

With plummeting support in the polls, the most likely scenario seems yet another split, greatly diminishing, if not totally destroying, any chance of SYRIZA returning to power.

PASOK is also facing its own identity challenges but is well placed to benefit from the crises in ND and SYRIZA.

Being in the process of electing its new leader, the challenge here is for the party to pick someone with the ability to appeal to both the center-right and the left, and present a credible alternative, not an easy task either.

CHART OF THE WEEK

Greek real estate prices continue to climb, with Q3 seeing asking prices rising by as much as 36% in certain areas. The port of Piraeus (36%) led the way, due to its lower threshold in qualifying for the Golden Visa residence program, with several nearby areas following closely behind. They include Drapetsona with 31.6% and Agios Ioannis Rentis with 27.9%. Overall, demand has increased by 6.8% year-on-year, with experts suggesting that the market cooled down ahead of the launch of a government program for mortgage interest subsidies to help first-time buyers. In September, when the terms of the programme were published there was increased activity once more, with prices expected to begin to move upwards again in the coming months.

?ESCAPADE

Why Lipsi is the new darling of the travel world

This hidden gem of the Aegean is ranked among the world’s top exotic destinations.

Go to article >

ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL

1. “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,437.88 points, down 2.1% from last week.”
2. “The sale of a 10% stake in the National Bank of Greece (NBG) saw the state receive 690.1 million euros, bringing the total amount of money received from privatizations of Greece’s four largest banks to 3.5 billion euros. Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis called the sale ‘an important success for the Greek economy’.”
3. “Greece slid to number 45 of the Global Innovation Index, having occupied the 42nd spot last year, emphasizing that innovation is taking place at a slow rate in the country with chronic weaknesses holding it back. Greece ranked 28th among 39 European countries.”

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA

10/10/2024

Byron at the Odeon: The Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism and the Philhellenism Museum are organizing a concert to mark the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron’s death in Messolongi, with opening speeches by Defense Minister Nikos Dendias and the UK Ambassador to Greece Matthew Lodge.

11/10/2024

Tempe Memorial Concert: The Association of Relatives of the Victims of the Tempe railway disaster will hold a concert at the Panathenaic Stadium to honor the 57 people who died in February 2023.

12/10/2024

Liberation of Athens: Saturday marks the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Athens from Axis forces.

PODCAST

The record rise in sea turtle nesting in Greece

Once on the verge of extinction, the Caretta caretta sea turtle is recording an amazing bounce-back as its nests are reaching record numbers. Charikleia Minotou, who coordinates the WWF program at a protected area for the Caretta caretta on the Greek island of Zakynthos, joins Thanos Davelis to look at the conservation efforts behind the sea turtle’s extraordinary resurgence, and explore what still needs to be done.

Listen to the episode >