Everything about Panhellenic Socialist Union totally explained
The
Panhellenic Socialist Movement, better known as
PASOK (
Greek: Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα,
Panellinio
Sosialistikó
Kínima,
ΠΑ.ΣΟ.Κ), is a
Greek centre-left political party. In 1981 PASOK formed the first socialist government in Greece's history, and subsequently ruled the country for most of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. PASOK has served as the main opposition party since the
general election of 2004. It is a member of the
Party of European Socialists and the
Socialist International. In the
European Parliament it has 8 out of 24 Greek
MEPs. On
31 January 2006, the party's president,
George Papandreou, was elected President of the
Socialist International, the worldwide organisation of social democratic, socialist and labour parties.
History
Foundation
PASOK was established on
September 3 1974 following the restitution of Greek democracy after the fall of
Greece's
military dictatorship of 1967-1974. Its founder was
Andreas Papandreou, son of the late Greek centrist leader
George Papandreou I; former Prime Minister and former President of the party,
Costas Simitis also claims to be the founder of the party. Its founding mottos were "National Independence, Popular Sovereignty, Social Emancipation, Democratic Process."
The first years
At the November 1974 elections PASOK received only 13.5% of the vote and won 15 seats (out of 300), coming third behind the center-right
New Democracy party of
Konstantinos Karamanlis and the centrist
Center Union - New Forces of
George Mavros. At the November 1977 elections, however, PASOK eclipsed the centrists, doubled its share of the vote and won 92 seats, becoming the main opposition party.
In government
At the October 1981 national elections PASOK won a landslide victory with 48% of the vote, and capturing 173 seats; it formed the first socialist government in the history of Greece since 1924. Although Papandreou had campaigned for withdrawal of Greece from
NATO and the
European Economic Community, he rapidly changed his policy towards both institutions.
In 1985 the PASOK government amended the Greek Constitution to remove most powers from the President and give wider authority to the Prime Minister and the Executive Government. Civil marriages, not consecrated by religious ceremony, were recognized as equally valid with religious weddings. At the June 1985 elections PASOK got 45% of the vote and won 161 seats, thus securing a stable parliamentary majority for its second term in power. By 1988 the government's popularity and Papandreou's health had declined. The former, due to a series of financial and corruption scandals that surfaced, implicating Ministers and, allegedly, Papandreou himself as well as due to fiscal austerity measures imposed after the destabilising Keynesian policies of the first term. Not surprisingly, PASOK lost the June 1989 elections with 40% of the vote while the opposing New Democracy got 45%. PASOK had changed the electoral law a year before elections, making it harder for the leading party to form a majority government, so the legislature was deadlocked. Another election in November produced a very similar result. After a brief period of a grand coalition government, in which PASOK participated, a third election in April 1990 brought New Democracy back to power. Despite a 7% lead in popular vote over PASOK, New Democracy could only secure a marginal majority in the parliament, electing 152 MPs out of a total of 300; PASOK had secured a larger number of representatives on a lower percentage of votes, as well as a smaller lead, in the elections of 1985, under the previous electoral system. PASOK's representation in parliament shrunk to 121 MPs in 1990.
In opposition PASOK underwent a leadership crisis when Papandreou was prosecuted over his alleged involvement in the
Bank of Crete scandal. He was eventually acquitted and, in a reversal of fortunes, at the October 1993 elections he led PASOK to another landslide victory. PASOK returned to office with 46.9% of the vote. His re-election was considered by many a vote of confidence of the public against his prosecution. In 1995, however, Papandreou's health began to deteriorate and PASOK was racked with leadership conflicts.
The 'modernization' period
In January 1996 Papandreou was forced to retire after a protracted three-month long hospitalization, during which he kept prime ministership; he died six months later. He was succeeded by
Costas Simitis, the candidate of the modernising,
pro-European wing of PASOK, who won an internal vote against
Akis Tsohatzopoulos, a Papandreou confidant. In the first days following his election, Simitis faced the biggest crisis in Greek politics for over 20 years, the
Imia crisis. Simitis was criticized for his soft stance against Turkey and especially for praising in public the American intervention.
In a PASOK conference in the summer of 1996, following Papandreou's death, Simitis was elected leader of the Party and called early elections seeking a renewed public vote of confidence. Although the Imia incident had somehow tarnished his image, the country's economic prosperity and his matter-of-fact administration won him the September 1996 general election with 41.5% of the vote. Under Simitis' leadership, PASOK had two major successes that had been initiated by
ND: In September 1997 Greece won the right to stage the
2004 Olympic Games and in 2001 it was confirmed that the country would be included in the
Euro-zone, for which it had failed to meet the convergence criteria in 1998. Simitis won another term in April 2000, narrowly winning with 43.8% of the vote and 158 seats: a substantial achievement for a party which had been in power almost continuously for nearly 20 years.
In 2000, after the assassination of
Brigadier Saunders by the
terrorist group
17 November (17N), and especially with the forthcoming
Athens Olympics being a major terrorist target, significant international pressure was exerted on PASOK authorities to recognise that Greece had a terrorist problem and secondly, to bring the terrorist group to justice. Some amongst the western
media had even accused PASOK of colluding with the terrorists. Under the guidance of British and US experts, the government intensified its efforts and finally, with a string of events starting at
June 29,
2002, the 17N members were captured and put to trial.
Nevertheless, PASOK was losing its traditional appeal to the Greek lower and middle
classes. In order to revitalize PASOK's chances for the next elections,
Costas Simitis January 7 2004 announced his resignation as leader of PASOK. He was succeeded by
George Papandreou, son of Andreas Papandreou. PASOK hoped that Papandreou could reverse the slide in the opinion polls which saw the opposition
New Democracy party, under
Kostas Karamanlis, 7% ahead at the start of the year.
But although Papandreou reduced ND's lead in the polls to 3%, he was unable to reverse the view of a majority of Greek voters that PASOK had been in power too long and had grown lazy and corrupt. ND had a comfortable win at the
March 7 elections, placing PASOK in opposition after eleven years in office with 40.55% share of the vote and 117 seats.
2007 parliamentary elections
On
September 16,
2007, the
New Democracy party headed by
Costas Karamanlis won re-
election with a marginal
majority of 152 seats in the
parliament. Despite
ND's falling performance in the
Greek legislative election, 2007,
PASOK suffered a crushing defeat, registering 38.1% of the vote, its lowest percentage in almost 30 years, and 102 seats in Parliament.
The dismal result led to activation of the
procedure to select new leadership, or to reaffirm the previous one. The main competitors for the leadership were the incumbent
George Papandreou and the party's informal second in command,
Professor Evangelos Venizelos,
MP for
Thessaloniki.
Costas Scandalides also announced his candidacy in September. According to party regulation, leaders are elected in a voting process open to all party members . During the
leadership election of November 11, 2007 George Papandreou was re-elected by the friends and members of the party as the leader of PASOK.
The next party congress has been scheduled for February, 2008.
Party Organization
- Party Congress, convened every two years
- President - George Papandreou
- National Council: the ruling party institution in between congresses
- Political council, 14 members elected by the National Council, plus the President and Secretary ex officio:
Shadow Cabinet, appointed by the President
Policy platform
Party leaders
Andreas Papandreou (1974-1996)
Costas Simitis (1996-2004)
George Andreas Papandreou (2004, incumbent)
Electoral performance, Greek parliamentary elections 1974-2007
| Year |
Party Leader |
Number of votes |
Percentage of votes |
Number of members in the Hellenic Parliament |
Position in Parliament |
| 1974 | Andreas Papandreou |
666,413 |
13.6% |
12 |
Minor opposition party
|
| 1977 | Andreas Papandreou |
1,300,025 |
25.3% |
93 |
Main opposition party
|
| 1981 | Andreas Papandreou |
2,726,309 |
48.1% |
172 |
Government
|
| 1985 | Andreas Papandreou |
2,916,735 |
45.8% |
161 |
Government
|
| 1989-I | Andreas Papandreou |
2,551,518 |
39.1% |
125 |
Main opposition party
|
| 1989-II | Andreas Papandreou |
2,724,334 |
40.7% |
128 |
Part of an all-party coalition government
|
| 1990 | Andreas Papandreou |
2,543,042 |
38.6% |
123 |
Main opposition party
|
| 1993 | Andreas Papandreou |
3,234,777 |
46.9% |
170 |
Government
|
| 1996 | Costas Simitis |
2,813,245 |
41.5% |
162 |
Government
|
| 2000 | Costas Simitis |
3,007,596 |
43.8% |
158 |
Government
|
| 2004 | George A. Papandreou |
3,002,531 |
40.6% |
117 |
Main opposition party
|
| 2007 | George A. Papandreou |
2,727,853 |
38.10% |
102 |
Main opposition party
|
Further Information
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