The leader of PASOK Evangelos Venizelos has admitted that his party suffered a “major defeat” in last Sunday’s elections, while announcing a conference for May at a joint meeting of his party’s parliamentary group and political council on Thursday.
Mr. Venizelos also announced that he would remain as party president until the conference, insinuating that he would not be running in the election of a new leader. A new leader may likely be elected after the party conference.
During his address, Mr. Venizelos blamed the existing electoral law and former party leader Giorgos Papandreou for the lackluster performance in the elections. He was particularly scathing in his criticism of Mr. Papandreou, who left PASOK to create the Movement of Democrats Socialists.
With time running out though, Mr. Venizelos stressed that his party should focus on preparing and organizing for the battles in parliament, as he estimated that the SYRIZA-led government does not have a clear strategy and is often contradictory in its statements.
