Andreas Papandreou

The so-called “Bridge” initiative to bring together SYRIZA and the centre-left failed because the bridge builders were people who were linked to SYRIZA.

There is a fortuitous confluence of events for the Movement for Change as it has become apparent that SYRIZA’s opening to the centre-left is a failure.

Andreas Papandreou came to power by uniting the Greeks, in contrast to Alexis Tsipras who won by dividing and governed with the same divisive rhetoric.

Andreas Papandreou is not remembered for crafting post-dictatorship politics, but rather because of the democratic achievements that it entailed, which were hardly a given at that time.

The problem is the PM's untrammeled pledges of handouts, the en masse civil service hiring, and the salary hikes for those affiliated with the ruling party.

Forty-four years ago today, in 1974, a politician who left his imprint on the post-dictatorship history of Greece, Andreas Papandreou, founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok).