Anna Diamantopoulou

^_«You become a leader when your internal clock synchronizes with the clock of History” Mimis Androulakis wrote in 2015. From that moment on, this phrase coincides with the desire of the PaSoK base, which has been looking for years for a person capable of sitting in the chair of Andreas Papandreou and Kostas Simitis.

This person, who will emerge from an internal process, however capable he may be, should also be synchronized with the demands of the times. Then PaSoK will be able to return to those times when its sun was rising and it saw percentages that connected it with the Maximos Palace.

In terms of time, PaSoK is at a critical and at the same time historical juncture. He turns 50 years old and walks the path of internal elections, at a time when his two main opponents are in trouble. New Democracy has lost more than 1,000,000 voters and the first knives have come out in the government. At the same time, prolonged introversion also exists within SYRIZA. Bipolar conflict between presidential and former presidents creates an escalating tension, but also a situation of executive and voter flight.

In this political environment, the PASOK clock seems to have started its own “ticking”, and indeed on strong double-digit percentages.

Communication

Communicators take advantage of all the tools that social media gives them. They use inventive TikTok posts to highlight the human profile of presidential candidates. THE Nikos Androulakis he succumbs to the temptation of a milkshake, tries it and spoils his diet. Paul Gerulanos goes to a car repair shop, fixes the brake pads, gets “dirty” and opens a dialogue with the comedian Alexander Tsouvela. While the Anna Diamantopoulou declares that he is a “trapper” shortly before talking about the water shortage problem.

At the organizational level, the candidate presidents have built mechanisms throughout the country. Lists of name mappings and member information updates go back and forth from headquarters to the District by email.

From Evros to Crete and from Corfu to the Dodecanese, party officials carry out tours and targeted excursions. MPs, mayors, trade unionists show with their movements that time is now counting down until October 6.

Nikos Androulakis: The Battle of Crete

Nikos Androulakis is expected to prevail in the battle of Crete, and even by a margin from the second. In the two prefectures from which he comes, Lasithi and Heraklion, PaSoK won and emerged as the first party.

In Rethymno, he will hardly lose to another candidate, as he has the local MP on his side Manoli Chnari and the MEP candidate Michalis Aerakis. The same is expected to happen in Chania, where apart from the mayor Panagiotis Simandirakis he is actively supported by executives such as the deputy mayor and a businessman Yannis Nikiforakish Maria Dafermouwho was a candidate for MEP, but also five of the six candidate MPs in the previous elections.

At the same time, he will be promoted in the Basin, especially in the popular neighborhoods, but mainly in several areas of the Region, such as Drama and Evia, with the local MPs Tasso Nikolaidis and Katerina Kazani to be by his side. In Argolis the member of the Central Committee Panagiotis Psychogios he runs the area organizationally and talks to people from the MEP and former deputy of the prefecture Yannis Maniatis. Yiannis Maniatis has not publicly expressed his support for any candidate, however there are many who believe that he will ultimately support the current president of PaSoK.

Xanthi, an area where Nikos Androulakis lived as a student and has ties to the local community, also has a lead. The president of PaSoK is expected to do well in regions of Western Greece such as Aitoloakarnania, with the former deputy of the region Dimitris Konstantopoulosthe parliamentary candidate Thanasi Katerinopoulos and the MEP candidate Giorgos Kalliakmanis to draw their origin from the specific region and to have officially declared that they support Mr. Androulakis.

They believe that he will be the first in Messinia, with the MEP candidate Giannis Pazio, several candidates for parliament and the member of the KE and president of the Association of Agricultural Cooperative Organizations of Greece George Katsoulis to have openly expressed their support.

Haris Doukas: Kinematic logic

On his staff Harry Doukas they bet on the mobilization of the people regardless of the support of parliamentarians and local governments because they consider that the effort of the mayor of Athens has a kinematic logic.

They initially calculate in the Municipality of Athens, while as reported by its partners “Haris Doukas gathers a lot of support in other regions as well, as he is supported by several self-governing officials.”

The tip of the spear in this battle is expected to be Eastern Attica, with the MP Manolis Christodoulakis and the two next in order of the ballot, Vasia Anastasiou and Yannis Smeroto have declared their support.

In the southern suburbs, the parliamentary candidate Tonia Antoniou works in Haris Doukas’ organizational unit and sweeps the area. She also brings strength to Fthiotida, where she was a member of parliament in the past.

At the same time in Arkadia and Halkidiki the deputies Odysseus Konstantinopoulos and Apostolos Panas are expected to bring many families to the polls on October 6. These two men were also the ones who were the first to challenge the current leadership and started the pre-election campaign early on. At the same time, his staff are focusing on areas of Thessaly that they consider critical for the outcome of the result. This week Haris Doukas will tour the Cyclades, he will go to Andros where he is from and he will be in Tinos on the fifteenth of August.

Pavlos Geroulanos: Good in urban centers

THE Pavlos Geroulanos he is also betting on Athens, who has walked it both as a member of parliament and as a candidate for mayor. According to his associates, his candidacy is doing quite well in the urban centers

(PHOTO CHRISTOS BONIS//EUROKINISSI)

At the same time, he seems to be constantly gaining points in Thessaloniki, which he has visited twice in a very short period of time. There he is supported by several self-governing actors and the MEP Sakis Arnautoglou. While the MEP and son of the founder of the party Nikos Papandreou it gives him points at the national level but also in regions such as Achaia, which is a large ballot box.

In addition, he is expected to be promoted in the Ionian Islands, the region from which he hails, while expectations for a good result also exist for Crete, where he will tour on the 15th of August. It is worth noting that Crete is a place that Pavlos Geroulanos is visiting for the third time, in order to hold meetings at a local level with his supporters.

Anna Diamantopoulou: With old staff

Anna Diamantopoulou, in turn, is constantly gaining ground, with a number of old officials supporting her, but also many local authorities, mainly from Northern Greece, maintaining communication channels with her.

She is expected to do quite well in the urban centers, but also in areas such as Kozani, where she is from, and Kastoria, where she has served as prefect. At the same time, he will make a remarkable record in Drama and Heraklion, with the ladies Hara Kefalidou and Evangelia Schinarakis to have declared their support for Mrs. Diamantopoulou.

From her staff, however, they make it clear that there will be no name references to executives throughout Greece who support her, as she wishes everyone to be together the next day and make PaSoK big, with a governmental perspective.

Party shock absorber

A common recommendation from the staffs of the candidate leaders is that the choice to set up ballots in October for the election of the president of the PASOK is redeeming for the faction. A historical member of the faction, speaking to “Vima”, specifically stated that “quickly we will go to the polls and quickly come out of them” and went on to emphasize that “the next day we will be stronger. In PaSoK, we have a culture of dialogue but also of conflicts. This intra-party process, as it is developing, functions as a shock absorber for party shocks, at the same time that New Democracy and SYRIZA show that they did not receive the message of the ballot box of the European elections” concluded.

The movements and pursuits of the other candidates

The 22.66% that PaSoK got in the European elections in Ilia brings smiles to the staff of the deputy of the prefecture, Michalis Katrinis. Western Greece is the base of Mr. Katrinis who will do well in these areas, as well as in Lassithi, his place of origin.

The parliamentary representative of PaSoK is touring Northern Greece this week and is betting a lot on his proposal for the formation of a broad democratic faction, which will discuss with all neighboring democratic areas, such as those who signed the motion of no confidence with PaSoK. In this proposal, which he communicates at every opportunity.

Nadia Giannakopoulou is based in Western Athens, where she is elected MP. In this particular area there is a system of self-governing agents formed by the former member of parliament and mayor of Agia Varvara Lambros Michos. At the same time, she is expected to draw strength from Messinia, where she comes from and is the region where she has been elected MP in the past, but also Aitoloakarnania and specifically Messolonghi, where she also draws her origin from.

There will also be a significant reinforcement of forces in Lefkada, the place where MEP candidate Agathi-Rosa Vrettou, who supports her, comes from. Journalist Yiannis Kanellakis seeks to collect the required number of signatures in order to be a presidential candidate. Mr. Kanellakis tours the neighborhoods of Western Athens where he was a candidate for parliament, while he is active on social media, with frequent references to the founder of PaSoK Andreas Papandreou and his work.