Center left coalition fallen apart

It wasn't meant to be. The “movement of 58”, an impromptu alliance of former center-left pundits and talking heads, started the initiative a few months ago in an attempt to unite the fragmented political milieu, but the proposals set up by PASOK were too patronizing to be tolerated.

So after their meeting earlier today, representative of the “58” Yiannis Voulgaris called Mr. Venizelos and told him that the Olive Tree coalition was a no go – at least until the upcoming local and European elections.

The meeting was programmed to discuss two burning issues: the title of the new coalition and the way the ballot would be formed. According to sources close to the meeting, the main reason for the breakup was PASOK's insistence that prominent party chiefs be coalition candidates without the consent of the “58”.

This means the two parties will go their separate ways. PASOK will keep up their effort to create a wide center-left coalition with other personalities,with dubious effect, while the “58”, or at least some of them, will try to rekindle the effort after the elections are over.