A sudden change took place in the Greek political scene on January 7, when PASOK president and Prime Minister Mr. Kostas Simitis announced that he would resign as president of the party at the party's emergency congress on February 6th. He also announced that he would resign as Prime Minister the day after the elections, which will be held on March 7th. The next day, January 8, the party's Central Committee (CC) met and accepted Simitis' resignation and decided the date of the congress and the procedure for the election of the new leader.
The man who will replace Simitis both as the head of the party and the head of the government (if PASOK wins) is George Papandreou, the son of the historical leader and founder of PASOK - Andreas Papandreou. The election of the new leader will not be through the usual way of the party congress, but through a direct vote both of the existing members, the ex-members, and the "friends" of the party! This procedure is very undemocratic and undoubtedly is an indication of the political quality both of the man, and the party leadership.
Why this "sudden" change?
Many people wonder why this sudden change has occurred. The truth of the matter is that it is not sudden at all. The hard anti-working class policy of Mr Simitis' government created sentiments of disillusionment and even hatred for the government among the workers, the unemployed, sections of the youth and the poor of the society. Since the general strikes of April-May 2001, the government hadn't recovered its influence. The last three months saw a new strike wave in the public sector in particular, with demands of salary increases.
Last summer the renovator's leadership took some measures in order to keep control of the party in the case of an electoral defeat by replacing the General Secretary of the party, and by changing the Executive Committee. After the summer the government introduced some economic measures in favour of the poor sections of society, and announced a plan of economic and social convergence with the European average in an attempt to reverse the negative climate for the government.
The polls after these measures were announced didn't show any change in the very negative climate for the government. The gap between the rightwing party N.D (New Democracy) and PASOK remained as high as it was before, with PASOK trailing 8 to 10 units behind the N.D.
Under these circumstances, and facing a "certain" defeat in the coming elections, Simitis and the renovators decided to play their last card with a change of leadership, in order to have the possibility of keeping themselves in power. So this move was not one of strength but one of weakness. Of course Mr Simitis presented it as a very brave and pioneering move, something that (as he said) he had decided long ago.
Is it going to have any effect?
Apart from the real reasons, which of course are not the ones that Mr Simitis is asserting, the change of PASOK leadership already has changed the balance.
George Papandreou has been accepted with enthusiasm both from the ranks and the periphery of PASOK. Recent polls show that the difference in the polls of 8-10 units has nearly disappeared. But more significant is the fact that the new leader has given the party a new dynamic which may result in a victory in the elections. As we are writing these lines the prognosis for the election result is uncertain. Many things will depend on the programme that Papandreou will present to the people. We have already had a taste of his intentions as he has announced that he will give priority to solving the burning problems of the people, first of all unemployment. He has said that he is in favour of the 35-hour workweek, and he called on the people, especially the young, to participate in this new start for a change.
It is obvious that Papandreou will promise alot before the elections, but he will follow more or less the same policy as Simitis.
Although he resembles his father Andreas in many ways, he doesn't have the charismatic characteristics of the latter. This means that people will not have the kind of illusions that they had in the past. What the workers and the poor people have now are not illusions but a new hope that with "Giorgos" it is probable that something will change. They were in a state of desperation under Simitis' policies, but until recently they didn't have any alternative. The victory of the N.D wouldn't be the result of a move of the workers and the poor to the right, but a result of their disappointment and their abstention. Now things are different.
The role of the other left workers' parties was hopeless. Both the KKE (The "Communist" Party) and Sinaspismos (a group that split from C.P) had issued propaganda saying that this change had been imposed by domestic and foreign centres of power, and they concluded that the people must turn their backs on Papandreou and PASOK. They have nothing to propose to the people as an alternative, neither in the form of a programme nor in the organisational field. It is for this reason that their influence is stagnant despite the crimes of the PASOK leadership.
One of the arguments they were using was that it wouldn't be a negative thing if the N.D formed the next government, saying that it would wake up the labour movement. The workers didn't appreciate this approach at all, and they moved again towards PASOK in order to avert a N.D victory. The idea that the workers' movement would be blocked under a new PASOK government and that it would rise again under an N.D government is wrong to the core. The workers will move time and time again whether there is a PASOK or an N.D government. The crisis of the system, the continuous worsening of their lives, and the inevitable attacks, even of a Papandreou government, will push them to even greater struggles.