A day after he was elected to the leadership of the Movement for Change (KINAL) coalition, Nikos Androulakis has pledged to “reconstruct the center left” in Greece.
Speaking at the offices of PASOK, Androulakis said that Greece “needs a strong voice of progress and pragmatism; a strong social democratic voice.”
“We have a lot of work to do, starting today,” the EU lawmaker said. “We must move to an era where citizens believe that parties can give solutions [to their problems].”
Androulakis defeated former prime minister George Papandreou in Sunday’s runoff vote, with partial vote showing Androulakis won 68.4% of the vote compared to 31.6% for Papandreou.
Leftist opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras, called Androulakis on Monday to congratulate him on his victory.
According to sources within SYRIZA, the ex-prime minister informed Androulakis of his plans to meet with mainstream party leaders to discuss the conservative government’s handling of the pandemic and the pressure on the national health system.
Greece’s President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, also congratulated Androulakis on his win on Monday. Androulakis thanked Sakellaropoulou, adding that Greece can only benefit from a strong social democratic party.
READ MORE: Nikos Androulakis elected new leader of Greece’s center-left KINAL party.
