Former Papandreou Crony Attacks Olive

Given the single digit figures that the Socialist party got in the recent European polls, voices from former party heads are on the rise. Former ministers Fofi Gennimata, Dimitris Repas and Kostas Skandalidis have lashed out against the leadership of party president Evangelos Venizelos, both for the party standing and for its ideological direction since it partnered with New Democracy conservatives in the government.

The latest former PASOK minister to lash out at the current state of the party and its decision to form a wider coalition named Olive. Pavlos Geroulanos, former Culture minister in the George Papandreou government of 2009, wrote an article in “Epikaira” political weekly where, more or less, he claimed being ashamed of the ideology the Olive Coalition represents.

Geroulanos writes that PR experts told PASOK executives that the word “socialism” is bad for the party and wonders whether socialism has lost its social dynamic, or its political representatives have lost touch with socialism's values.

Writing about other parties such as the apolitical newly formed River and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, he claims that these formations may have specific reasons to muddy their principles and wonders what is the Olive Coalition's problem. “Do they want the freedom to to do or say what it wants, or is it ashamed by the ideology it represents?”, he concludes.

Wrong policies, wrong people and wrong choices cannot be charged on ideology, writes Geroulanos, claiming that “instead of looking for ways to refuse socialism or take the word out of our party title, we should find ways to explain to the public what precise socialistic policies we can implement”.

Geroulanos' critique is obviously aimed at Venizelos' clear choice to form a wider center-left coalition around his party. It's becoming clearer day by day, that former PASOK party heads are still leaving in the past, when parties like PASOK or New Democracy could rule the country all by themselves, with an absolute majority.