Complete chaos has taken hold of the Greek center-left, as the fierce competition between PASOK and ELAS for second place is leading to costly political missteps. Nikos Androulakis has been on an aggressive recruitment drive in recent weeks, seeking to demonstrate to voters that prominent center-left figures prefer his party — clearly trying to send the message that nothing is out of reach, not even claiming that coveted second-place finish.
Avlonitis: The coalition proposal, PASOK’s embarrassment, and the damage control statement
Comments made on Monday by Alexandros Avlonitis — calling for cooperation across the entire spectrum of the left — caused significant embarrassment at PASOK headquarters on Charilaou Trikoupi Street. This came at a time when Nikos Androulakis has repeatedly and emphatically ruled out any compromise to the party’s autonomous course. “I want the rallying of progressive center-left forces,” Avlonitis said in an interview, adding that “PASOK can comfortably engage in dialogue with the New Left, even with Zoe Konstantopoulou, or with Varoufakis if he enters parliament.” He further clarified that his proposal for a common platform on key issues also includes Alexis Tsipras.
The main opposition party reacted with a mixture of embarrassment and irritation. Just days earlier, acting on direct orders from the PASOK leader, the party had issued a statement sharply criticizing MP Apostolos Panas from Chalkidiki, who had suggested that ELAS belongs within the social-democratic political family.
However, since Avlonitis had been photographed just days earlier alongside Nikos Androulakis — publicly signaling his joining of PASOK — party officials decided against publicly distancing themselves from him. Nevertheless, he was privately instructed to issue a corrective statement. Shortly afterwards, he duly appeared to walk back his remarks, stating: “Without political autonomy, genuine political change is impossible. And PASOK has both the autonomy and the solid ideological arsenal.” He added that only with PASOK as the leading party can the defeat of New Democracy become a reality.
Polakis: Fresh pressure for a party congress and the clash within SYRIZA
Meanwhile, Pavlos Polakis is reportedly “threatening heaven and earth,” warning he will cause an uproar if his demand for a party congress and the election of a new leader is not met. At SYRIZA’s Koumoundourou headquarters, however, party officials appear to have written him off entirely. Tellingly, the Sunday edition of Avgi newspaper did not include him among the party’s collective leadership, featuring on its front page only the photographs of Rena Dourou and Nikos Pappas.
Many observers believe that Polakis’ decision to thrust the Mazonakis affair into the spotlight reflects his intention to engage with broader social issues rather than internal party matters — and they directly link this shift to his ambition to contest the leadership of SYRIZA.
New Left split in two: SYRIZA or Varoufakis?
At the same time, the mood within the New Left is no better. The party’s secretary, Gavriil Sakellaridis — who appears to favor cooperation with MeRA25 and Yanis Varoufakis — finds himself at odds with a faction within his own party that prefers alignment with SYRIZA. Some insiders claim that figures such as Skourletis, Filis, and Vroutsis would rather return to their old political home than embark on a partnership with MeRA25 that could collapse at any moment. Under no circumstances, however, are they considering cooperation with Alexis Tsipras. Indeed, the New Left’s secretary has stated that the former prime minister has made a very deliberate choice, through his political rebranding, to reposition himself far to the right of where the left stands.
Yannis Dragasakis, who also departed from SYRIZA, told Libre in an interview that “there are not only points of convergence, but also common ground between Alexis Tsipras’s Left Alliance and PASOK, as well as among other smaller parties that position themselves to the left of center.” According to Dragasakis, “to avoid the ‘Italianization’ of our political life, the country’s progressive forces must set aside their differences, overcome their subjective biases, and jointly cultivate a climate of dialogue.”
Siakadaris: A “big bang” for the center-left
Adding to the debate, Giorgos Siakadaras — who has previously worked alongside ELAS — also came out in favor of broader cooperation among progressive parties. In a social media post, he wrote: “PASOK-KINAL condemned Apostolos Panas for his statement that ELAS operates within the social-democratic space. Yannis Dragasakis went even further, speaking of common ground and convergence between ELAS and PASOK — and SYRIZA and the New Left, I would add. The problem is that we are now in a pre-election period, making all of this very difficult to put into practice. After the elections, regardless of the outcome, a dialogue must begin in which all of these issues are placed firmly on the table — a dialogue about a coalition of parties, or better yet, about something entirely new. The famous ‘big bang’ or the Greek equivalent of France’s Épinay Congress. That, after all, is the very meaning of the Alexis Tsipras Institute’s Manifesto.”
