Greece General Discussion

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Just so everyone's up-to-date with everyone's favourite joke party, PASOK are renaming themselves the Democratic Party. As expected, they can't even do that right - Wikipedia maintains they changed their name at the start of this month, but the media still seem intent on calling them PASOK. Oh yeah, and Papandreou is sulking.

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I think the US Democrats should rename themselves PASOK, that would be fitting.

the Pan American Socialists of Obama and Klinton?

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From what I know, Papandreou is more open to a coalition because he is desperate to be in power again.

However here is the situation for Syriza: once they are in power, they face some very, very bleak decisions. About the only easy free kudos they can get is to announce inquiries into corruption in the "old regime", which many PASOK ministers were very complicit with.

As for KKE, Syriza are likelier to form an alliance with ND than those weirdos. The Communists are sort of like the "testimonial parties" of the Netherlands: they have no interest in governing or joining a coalition, they're just ... there.

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Former Wall Street laywer, which seems like a ripe excuse for Syriza/ANEL to reject out of hand. Honestly, ND should have nominated some fluffy charity worker - then they could have played the "oMGz Syriza is so partisan and extremist, they opposed our bunny rabbit of a candidate."

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I wonder whether a new Paprendeau outfit could hoover up the remaining PASOK people. I'd imagine he could make a decent crack at To Potami as well. (i.e. the Very Serious moderates who find the leftists unthinkable but Samaras unpalatable).

Good news for everyone: Golden Dawn has suffered a fall in the polls recently, below the resurgent To Potami and drawing parallel with both the commies and The Most Democratic Olive PASOK Tree (or whatever it's going to be called come next election)

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Days ago, Jean-Claude Juncker warned Greeks of "major problems" if they vote in the "wrong" way. Pierre Moscovici avoided an explicit endorsement, but praised the "impressive" strides made by the government.

Good grief, why is the EU establishment so bone-headed?

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View the KKE as less of a "party" in the traditional sense, and more as just a statement.

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Dunno, depends how much ANEL are in hock to the barons of the Orthodox Church.

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Hollande is officially going for a Eurozone parliament, as endorsed by Piketty and a handful of academics. Seems like a sensible idea, so it will never pass in a feasible form.

Who else thinks varafoukis is going to try and return under a non-Syriza banner?

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PASOK are coming in to the left of Syriza. Yes, that PASOK

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New Democracy - which was completely humiliated after the failure of the Nai campaign, which they threw a lot of their resources, infrastructure and general machinery at - may have a female leader of its own. Dora Bakoyanni, a member of the liberal wing (you might remember her leading one of the million tiny liberal parties that splintered off ND at the start of the crisis) apparently wants the job - she was the runner-up when Samaras (a more traditional rightist) was chosen.

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My dream election of Tsipras (pro bailout coalition) vs Varoufakis (anti bailout coalition) is coming closer to reality

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Oh hey Lyndon, thought you'd vanished, or got sent to a gulag or something. How's your area of Greece holding up?

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So who are the heavyweights of the Left Platform? The speaker, Zoe Konstantopoulou? Our old friend Yanis?

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Have we seen any hypothetical polling of how a Left Platform would destabilise politics?

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Vet pry male dominated, these Syriza cabinets aren't they?

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New Democracy have spectacularly botched their leadership election.