Panhellenic Socialist Movement leadership election, 2007

A leadership election was held on November 11, 2007 [http://www.pasok.gr/portal/gr//51605/7/7/1/showdoc.html PASOK party site] , "Δηλώσεις Γιάννη Ραγκούση προς τους πολιτικούς συντάκτες μετά την συνεδρίαση του Πολιτικού Συμβουλίου του ΠΑΣΟΚ, (Statements of John Ragkousis to the political analysts after the meeting of PASOK's Political Council)", 20.09.2007, Retrieved on 2007-09-24] in the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Greece's main centre-left party, after it was defeated in the parliamentary election earlier that year. The incumbent, George Papandreou, had stated right after the general elections that he would ask party members to renew their confidence in him, [ [http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=5703104&maindoc
] , Papandreou to request renewal of leadership, Retrieved on 2007-09-17] while Evangelos Venizelos [http://news.antenna.gr/articleDetail/0,3091,165675,00.html Antenna News] , Θέμα ηγεσίας στο ΠΑΣΟΚ (Leadership issue in PASOK), Retrieved on 2007-09-17] [http://www.e-tipos.com/newsitem?id=9920 Eleftheros Tipos] , Σήκωσε το γάντι με αρχηγική εμφάνιση, Retrieved on 2007-09-17] and Kostas Skandalidis [http://news.antenna.gr/articleDetail/0,3091,166438,00.html Antenna News] , Τρίτος πόλος ο Κώστας Σκανδαλίδης "(The "third pole" is Kostas Skandalidis)", Retrieved on 2007-09-28] also declared themselves candidates.

Election districts were open from 9:00AM until 8:00PM local timecite news|url=http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=848004&lngDtrID=244|title=Με σημαντική προσέλευση διεξάγονται οι εσωκομματικές εκλογές στο ΠΑΣΟΚ|publisher=in.gr|date=2007-11-11|accessdate=2007-11-11] In some districts the process finished at 9:30AM due to large number of people willing to vote. [cite news|url=http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=848113|publisher=in.gr|title=Σε εξέλιξη η καταμέτρηση των ψήφων για την εκλογή προέδρου του ΠΑΣΟΚ|date=2007-11-11|accessdate=2007-11-11] Voting it was scheduled to take place in 1,405 polling stations throughout the country and 86 in other countries and after merging some small stations it took place in 1,376. The procedure was fully electronically and was supported by 3,310 computers handled by 3,900 personnel. [ [http://www.pasok.gr/portal/gr/ PASOK Official site] ] The registered voters are 347,991 members and 626,675 people in the status of the "friend of the party". [cite news|url=http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=110,id=49642888|publisher=Eleftherotypia|title=Εκλογή αρχηγού σε επτά βήματα|date=2007-11-11|accessdate=2007-11-11] The total number of voters, members and friends of the Movement older than 16 years old, was more than 700,000. [ [http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=848843&lngDtrID=244 news in.gr - Τα τελικά αποτελέσματα των εκλογών ανακοίνωσε το ΠΑΣΟΚ ] ]

Initial results on the day of the election showed Papandreou winning a majority. [ [http://www.hri.org/news/greek/ana/2007/07-11-12.ana.html "Papandreou handily wins PASOK leadership race"] , Athens News Agency (hri.org), November 12, 2007.] At 10:00PM Skandalidis called Papandreou to congratulate him on his victory and some minutes later Venizelos did the same. [cite news|url=http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=848229&lngDtrID=244|title=Συγχαρητήρια από Κ.Σκανδαλίδη και Ευ.Βενιζέλο στον Γ.Παπανδρέου|date=2007-11-11|accessdate=2007-11-11]

According to official final results, announced on November 14, George Papandreou was the victor with 55.91%, followed by Evangelos Venizelos with 38.18% and Kostas Skandalidis with 5.74%. [ [http://www.hri.org/news/greek/ana/2007/07-11-15.ana.html#08 "George Papandreou wins PASOK leadership election with 55.91 pc"] , Athens News Agency (hri.org), November 15, 2007.] Exit polls had published similar results. [http://news.antenna.gr/articleDetail/0,3091,169359,00.html Antenna News] , Καθαρή εκλογή Παπανδρέου "(Clean Victory for Papandreou)", Retrieved on 2007-11-11.]

Background

A few hours after the results of the parliamentary elections were announced, on the night of Sunday, September 16, 2007, the leader of the defeated opposition party, George Papandreou, conceded defeat and made an announcement at PASOK's press-conference room in the Harilaos Trikoupis street building that houses the party HQ, asking all members of his party to find their own responsibilities for the defeat. He also declared that he would assume the part of the responsibility that belongs to him, by requesting the reaffirmation of his leadership by his fellow party members.

Shortly after, the winner of the elections Kostas Karamanlis gave the first post-election press conference of the winning party, New Democracy, in the Zappeion hall, declaring victory. It must be noted that, traditionally, the Zappeion hall houses all serious political announcements in Greece.

A few minutes later, in a surprising and semantic move, Evangelos Venizelos visited the Zappeion as well, and made an announcement where he thanked all PASOK voters and party members for their effort, and stated that "it is a pity that PASOK lost, while being able and obliged to win for the benefit of the country.". [ [http://evenizelos.blogspot.com/2007/09/blog-post.html Transcript] from Venizelos' personal blog] He asked for party unity, and declared that PASOK "deserves a better future and the replacement of the current false balance of power between the two parties". He thanked George Papandreou for assuming his part of the responsibility, and declared himself "obviously present" in the coming leadership election of his party.

On Monday, 17 September, Venizelos had a meeting with the former PASOK leader and ex-Prime Minister of Greece, Costas Simitis, whom he characterized as the "guarantor of unity and democratic and transparent processes" in his party, while he affirmed that his initiatives are not personal. Simitis, in a carefully written statement, admitted a "painful defeat", prioritized party unity and supported the immediate leadership election procedures as the only means for restoration and long-term crisis avoidance in PASOK.

Ηigh ranking PASOK officials Andreas Loverdos, Christos Verelis, George Floridis, George Lianis, Michalis Neonakis, Stavros Soumakis and Kimon Koulouris declared their support for Venizelos. [ [http://www.megatv.com Mega News] , Κρίση στο ΠΑΣΟΚ (Crisis in PASOK) Retrieved on 2007-09-17]

A survey was conducted by GPO for Mega channel on the very next day of the general elections regarding the suitability of each candidate for the party leadership. Evangelos Venizelos was regarded more suitable by 71.3% of the total sample, versus 15.8% for George Papandreou. While somewhat lower, the results were similar among PASOK voters (62.1% vs 25.7%). 70.6% considered that PASOK would achieve much better results with a different leader, while 61.2% consider that the most important factor for New Democracy's victory (among four options) was the personality of Kostas Karamanlis. Political analysts argue that the elections in Greece are becoming more of a character issue, rather than a party-orientation issue for the voters. However, 1 in 2 considered that Papandreou should still pursue the leadership, which was attributed to the necessity of selecting a better candidate among two, as opposed to Papandreou's previous election which had no opposition.Mega Channel, eight o'clock News of the 2007-09-17.]

Several later surveys showed that the initial clear majority of Venizelos had diminished and that the election would be a close call between the two main candidates, while some of them even gave a slightly higher percentage to Papandreou.el icon [http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=62468 Skai News] , Προβάδισμα Γ. Παπανδρέου ("G.Papandreou Ahead"), Retrieved on 2007-10-14.]

Other potential candidates, according to Greek media, were ex-Ministers Michalis Chrisohoidis and Theodoros Pangalos as well as the former EU commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou. The latter announced on October 1 that she would not be a candidate, [cite news|url=http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=836274|publisher=in.gr|title=Την απόφασή της να μην είναι υποψήφια ανακοίνωσε η Αννα Διαμαντοπούλου|date=2007-10-01|accessdate=2007-10-22] and Pangalos followed on October 7. [cite news|url=http://www.naftemporiki.gr/news/story.asp?id=1422045|title=Δεν θα είναι υποψήφιος ο Θ. Πάγκαλος|publisher=Athens News Agency|date=2007-10-07|accessdate=2007-10-07] On September 28, Kostas Skandalidis declared he would be the third candidate.

Results

References