KINAL elections: The favorite N. Androulakis and the hopes of G. Papandreou for overthrow

The second round of the internal elections in the Movement for Change has started and the time is counting down for the closing of the ballot box at seven in the afternoon and the election of the new president of the movement.

Will George Papandreou manage to overthrow or will Nikos Androulakis, who is the favorite from the first round, be the first to cut the thread and become the youngest president of the Movement? Objective data show that most chances are on the side of the Cretan MEP.

Nikos Androulakis collected a significant percentage of votes in the first round, 98,431 votes and a percentage of 36.88% and left behind by almost 10 points difference his opponent George Papandreou who was voted by 74,093 citizens, a percentage of 27.97%

The tactics in the second round

Of the candidates who did not make it to the second round, Andreas Loverdos, who collected the most 69,411 votes, openly supported Nikos Androulakis in the second round, thus greatly increasing the chances of a sure victory.

The rest of the candidates did not want to give a line and left their voters free to act at will. If Haris Kastanidis and Pavlos Geroulanos, who have been ministers of George Papandreou, had sided in his favor, a dynamic could have been created in the camp of the former prime minister, but something did not happen in the end. On the other hand, even if it adds up all the votes received by Messrs. Christidis Geroulanos and Kastanidis together with those of George Papandreou, they are far behind the sum of the votes of Androulakis and Loverdos.

In the week between the first and second round the two gladiators followed different strategies. Mr. Papandreou with continuous interviews polarized things by launching personal attacks against Nikos Androulakis almost every day. The culmination was the allegations of fraud that were eventually withdrawn, but allegations that annoyed many party officials, whether they support Mr. Androulakis or not. We will know in a few hours if this strategy will cost him. What is certain, however, is that Mr. Papandreou’s constant attacks annoyed others and disappointed others.

George Papandreou

For his part, Mr. Androulakis, who for five days is heard to be smokeless, old-fashioned and without positions, did not raise his glove to counterattack, presenting his candidacy as united and able to heal the wounds of a faction that has been hit in recent years by intra-party attacks and blows below the belt. Besides, in his last pre-election spot that was released a few hours before the polls opened, three were the words that dominated, we dare, we change, we unite.

Both he and his staff, in view of the current electoral process, are keeping a low profile, avoiding triumphs and stressing the need for those who voted last Sunday to go to the polls in order for the result to be strong and dynamic.

For his part, George Papandreou has stated many times that he will fight to the end, saying that he believes in overthrow.

That is why, in his own pre-election spot, the former prime minister states that today the future of the Democratic Party is being judged.

However, executives and MPs who support him have stated in recent days in interviews that the overthrow is not impossible but it is not an easy task.

How the next day will be shaped in the Movement for Change will be judged in a few hours and the difference between the first and the second will play an important role. The winner, however, will not have unlimited time to be judged as in the parliamentary elections that will take place in 2023 at the latest, he will have to manage to get the party out of the gray area of ​​single-digit percentages in order for the Movement for Change – PASOK to have one last chance for substantial recovery. and the possibility of starring again in political affairs.

Source: TheTOC.gr