Pavlos Geroulanos, the parliamentary spokesperson for the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), said his party talks about tomorrow while Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and opposition figure Alexis Tsipras talk about their yesterday. He made the comment in an interview with journalist Savvas Goulopoulos at the Newsbeast studio during the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair, Greece's largest annual trade exhibition, which is traditionally used by political leaders to set out policy for the year ahead.
Geroulanos argued that Mitsotakis had unveiled a series of benefit payments in an attempt to make amends with social groups his government had treated unfairly, and that Tsipras had likewise come to the fair to repair the image of his own political past. PASOK, he said, had chosen instead to speak exclusively about the country's future.
He called for large-scale reforms, saying the central goal should be changing the country's administrative model, particularly within the justice system, which he described as a precondition for changing Greece's production model.
Ruling out alliances
Asked about a possible alliance floated by Tsipras, who leads the newly formed Greek Left Coalition, Geroulanos was categorical that PASOK would not cooperate with either the Greek Left Coalition or the ruling New Democracy party.
He said this kind of alliance had, in other European countries, opened the door for extreme, populist or fascist voices to become the official opposition, a risk he considered especially dangerous for a country with a fragile economy and weak institutions. He also questioned Tsipras's description of himself as "centre-left," calling on him to take a clear position on local government and the welfare state.
PASOK's weak Athens vote
Geroulanos was also asked about PASOK's relatively poor electoral performance in Athens compared with the rest of the country. He attributed the gap to political parties in general growing distant from local "neighborhoods," adding that Greece's bailout-era memorandum had also played a significant role.
He closed by pledging to continue PASOK's grassroots work at the neighborhood level, saying he believed the outcome of the electoral battle would be decided at the last moment.
