France inspires Greek progressives to join forces

The collaboration among the left and socialists in France ahead of the snap parliamentary elections later this month has sparked a big debate in Athens, with voices calling for Greek progressives to join forces on the rise.

“The progressive parties must meet the expectations of progressive citizens, who want to see against New Democracy [EPP] a credible power and a pole to win the next elections with strong chances”, Nikos Pappas, a lawmaker of leftist main opposition Syriza party told Euractiv.

Centre-right New Democracy party won the EU elections but with heavy losses.

Particularly, the conservatives scored 27.7%, well below the 33% goal set by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and a big drop from the 41% he scored in the legislative elections in July 2023, losing almost 1.1 million votes.

The main opposition Syriza party (EU Left) ranked second with 14.9%, followed by socialist Pasok (S&D) with 13%.

Since then, several members from both opposition parties have spoken publicly about the need to collaborate to overthrow conservatives.

For Pappas, the developments in France sparked the debate.

“The snap elections came as a surprise, and the political forces were forced to lock themselves in a room and come out with a political agreement on the program and with candidates in all regions”, the leftist lawmaker said.

“We look at it very carefully and in a very positive way”, he noted, adding that Syriza and Pasok working together can create “a major political event”.

The time, though, is not an ally, according to him.

“If New Democracy falls further in the polls in the next period, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis may be tempted to hold elections, and he will catch us off guard […] there will be no excuse”.

This week, progressive politicians are gathering at an international event organised in Athens by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (Syriza) and Zoran Zaev of North Macedonia.

Among them is also former French President François Hollande.

Speaking at the conference, Giorgos Papandreou, former Prime Minister and head of the Socialist International for 16 years, stated:

“All the democratic forces can work together for a progressive Europe, for a progressive Balkans, for a progressive Greece”.

At the event, a survey was presented on Tuesday, showing that progressive voters want things to move forward.

Particularly, 69% of citizens consider that there should be a convergence of the centre-left parties towards a single form.

Moreover, 83% of Syriza and Pasok voters responded positively to the question of whether “there should be convergence into a single form.”

Pasok, a member of the EU socialists in Greece, is currently in turmoil.

Its leader, Nikos Androulakis, is being questioned by several politicians within his party, pressuring him to hold internal elections.

All potential candidates, including Athens’ mayor Charis Doukas, have indicated that a dialogue in the centre-left should start.

Doukas (Pasok) won the municipal elections in Athens in October 2023 in the second round with the support of leftist Syriza.

Read more: Greek progressives deal ruling New Democracy severe blow in local elections

(Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv.com, edited by Alice Taylor)

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