George Papandreou is expected to formalize the creation of a new political party today, registering the name and trademark of the new party with the courts.
Papandreou has been keeping a tight lid of secrecy on the plans for the new political force – many of which appear to be still under development only three weeks before the election. The former prime minister and his close advisers met until the early hours of this morning hammering out the final details about the party’s structure and operation.
According to sources, the official announcement of the party will take place tomorrow (Saturday), while the name and symbol of the party remains a closely guarded secret, as does the party’s founding manifesto. However, according to sources two likely names are ‘Change Movement’ (Kinima Allagis) or ‘New Change’ (Nea Allagi).
One of course might wonder how the scion of the Papandreou dynasty and former PASOK Prime Minister who first oversaw Greece’s signing of the hated bailout memorandum expects to convince voters that he does indeed represent ‘change’ in Greek politics. However according to sources a central plank in Papandreou’s strategy is to rely on fresh faces in the new party, with a large percentage of the party’s candidates expected to be under 40 and relative newcomers to politics.
Close aides to Papandreou maintain that the new party will be a revitalizing force in the political scene and well placed to be competitive against PASOK and To Potami (The River) for third place in the election.
That would make Papandreou a potential kingmaker in the ballot in which it will be difficult for SYRIZA – expected to win the elections – to obtain an outright majority. However the risk very much remains of the PASOK vote (which is currently polling at around 5%) simply being split down the middle between the remains of PASOK and Papandreou’s new party. That would leave both parties out of parliament (at least 3% of the vote is required for parties to elect MPs to parliament).
PASOK’s defenses
What is certain is that the current PASOK leader, Evangelos Venizelos, will not sit idly by as he watches George Papandreou seek to gain votes at his expense. Civil wars are often the most brutal and the political clash between the onetime allies may well prove to be one of the more intense of these elections. That said, Venizelos is not expected to take Papandreou head on (although he may end up with little choice), instead playing up the history of PASOK and the legacy of Andreas Papandreou and the founding generation of the party.
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