PASOK

PASOK (in Greek, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ΠΑ.ΣΟ.Κ, which means movement socialist panhellenic ) is a Greek Political party , Social-démocrate, principal party of opposition since the March 7th 2004. The PASOK is member of the European Socialist party and the Internationale Socialist.

1974-1981: return of the democracy to the conquest of the capacity

With the fall of the Dictatorship of the colonels in August 1974, the democracy is restored and the parties are officially authorized: very quickly, Andréas Papandréou, the son of the liberal leader Georges Papandréou, which has just returned of exile, calls with the gathering of the political clouts of the left. The September 3rd 1974, the PASOK is officially founded. The watchwords of the new party are the " independence nationale" , the " to be able with the peuple" and the " release sociale". The PASOK present for the first time of the candidates at the legislative elections of November 1974 and obtains 13,5% of the voices (15 deputies on a total of 300 with the Greek Parlement), arriving third behind the Nouvelle Democracy of Konstantínos Karamanlís and EK-ND (Union of the center-News Forces), directed by George Mavros. On this occasion Mikis Théodorakis member of the Greek Communist party would have declared: “Or you vote Karamanlis or they is the tanks”.
To the elections of 1977, the PASOK manages to exceed EK-ND while making elect 92 deputies (that is to say 25,3% of the voices), becoming thus the principal party of opposition of the country.

1981-1989: the Movement with the capacity

With legislative of October 1981, after a campaign carried out by Andréas Papandréou to the cries of " Change! " and " Greece with the Greeks! " , the PASOK enters the history by gaining 48% of the votes (173 deputies) and can thus form the first left government in Greece since 1924. It was about something of extraordinary in the history of a country having known a civil war and not recognizing yet at that time the resistant ones of the second world war. It is to be stressed that the evening of the elections a new dictatorship was still to fear. In spite of its standpoint of countryside in favor of a withdrawal of Greece of NATO and the EEC, Papandréou changed thereafter its relations with these two organizations. The rallying cries at the time of the elections were out of NATO: “ exo apo to nato ” and out of the EEC: “ exo apo chock evropi ”.
Later, there was the incident of Sismik. Turkey sent a ship to make geological research in what Greece considers being its territorial water. There was general mobilization and Greece withdrew NATO. The amount of time which Greece passed out of NATO was very short and completely occulted in the other countries dependant on this same NATO but the reaction was immediate, Turkey withdrew Sismik.
In 1984, Andréas Papandréou is re-elected president of the party during the 1st Congress of the PASOK, with Georgos Genimatas like official dolphin. One year later, the PASOK again gains the legislative elections while managing to lose only 3 points compared to its score of 1981 (45% and 161 deputies), which enables him to be maintained with the government and to engage an important reform of the Constitution, reducing the capacities of the President of the Republic and reinforcing those of the Prime Minister. The Civil code is also modified and the civil weddings are authorized in Greece for the first time. During these two legislatures, the PASOK gets busy, as a governing party, to develop the infrastructures with small and average scale in the worldwide and to modernize the small companies, in particular in the field of agriculture and the tourisme.
But since 1988, the popularity of the government and the party, weakened by the bad health of its leader Andréas Papandréou, falls, of the fact in particular of its implication in several scandals économico-policies (the business Koskotas, inter alia) and, without surprise, the PASOK loses the elections of June 1989 by gathering only 40% of the voices compared with 45% for the Nouvelle Democracy

1989-1993: great coalition and opposition

Envisaging its defeat, the government had modified in 1988 the Constitution, making thus difficult the formation of a government, in the event of tight victory of a party to the legislative ones. The New Democracy having obtained in June only 5 points in advance on its competitor, of new elections are organized in November 1989 to which the PASOK obtains an almost identical score. A government of national union between the PASOK, the New Democracy and the Synaspismós (left coalition, dissidence of the Greek Communist party) is formed. As of its formation, it was to last only three months, indeed on this date was to take place the presidential election and none the parties not having the majority necessary to elect it (181/300) nor not wanting to go front in a coalition, it were going to have new legislative elections there 1990. The new elections are gained of accuracy by Nouvelle Democracy, the arriving PASOK only second with 39% of the voices. Nea Demokratia has however only 151 seats out of 300.

1993-2004: one decade with the capacity

In spite of the implication of Andréas Papandréou in a new economic scandal (business of the Bank of Crete), the PASOK gains the elections organized in 1993 with 47% of the voices and Papandréou becomes again Prime Minister. In 1995, the party passes through an internal serious attack which sees Dimitris Tsovolas resigning of the Central committee to found its own party, DI.K.KI (social Democratic movement) while Andréas Papandréou is hospitalized because of serious health issues. After 3 months during which it contiue to direct the country since its bed of hospital, it is constrained with the resignation on January 17th, 1996. The following day, Costas Simitis is indicated by the party to replace it with the head of the government. Representative of the pro-European wing of the party, it had as a direct competitor within the PASOK Aris Tsohatzopoulos, considered as the legitimate successor of Papandréou. A few days after its designation, Simitis must face more the diplomtic serious attack which underwent the country since 1974, the crisis known as " Imia-Kardak ", of the name of the small islands disputed by the Greece and the Turkey. Shown weakness vis-a-vis the Turkey and especially to be too much with the listening of the the United States, Costas Simitis nevertheless is elected president of the PASOK in 1996 and leads her party to a news (very short) victory with the elections of September 1996 with 41.5% of the voices compared with 40% for the Nouvelle Democracy. The party again gains the elections of 2000 with 43,8% of the voices, at the end of a very tight campaign. In spite of three great successes recorded during the two last legislatures (1997: obtaining by Athens of the organization of the Olympic Games of 2004, 2001: final admission of the Greece in the Euro area, 2002: dismantling of the terrorist organization " November 17th ") and especially in spite of the replacement, few before the elections 2004, of Costas Simitis to the head of the party by Georges Papandréou, wire of the charismatic founder of the supposed party to rejoin the nostalgic ones of his/her father disappointed by the policy of Simitis the PASOK has not managed to be maintained with the capacity and is found in the opposition for the first time for 11 years while the Nouvelle Democracy reaches the capacity.

External bond

Official site of the PASOK

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