PASOK facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Panhellenic Socialist Movement Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα

Abbreviation	PASOK ΠΑΣΟΚ
President	Nikos Androulakis
Founder	Andreas Papandreou
Founded	3 September 1974; 50 years ago (1974-09-03)
Preceded by	Panhellenic Liberation Movement
Headquarters	Chariláou Trikoúpi 50, 106 80 Athens
Student wing	Panhellenic Combative Student Faction (ΑΣΠ) (universities' organization) Panhellenic Combative Student Movement (ΠΑΜΚ) (school organization; dormant)
Youth wing	PASOK Youth
Trade union wing	Panhellenic Trade Union Movement of Workers (ΠΑΣΚΕ)
Membership (2022)	189,000
Ideology	Social democracy Pro-Europeanism Historical: Democratic socialism Left-wing nationalism Left-wing populism Anti-Turkish sentiment
Political position	Centre-left Historical: Left-wing
National affiliation	Olive Tree (2014) Democratic Alignment (2015–2018) Movement for Change (2018–2022) PASOK – Movement for Change (2022–present)
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance Socialist International
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colours	Dark green Green
Slogan	"Society in the foreground"
Anthem	O ílios o prásinos (The Green Sun)
Parliament	32 / 300
European Parliament	3 / 21
Party flag

The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Greek: Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, romanized: Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima), better known as PASOK (ΠΑΣΟΚ), is a social-democratic political party in Greece. A social-democratic party generally supports fairness and government help for its citizens.

For many years, PASOK was one of the two main political parties in Greece, along with its rival, New Democracy. The party became less popular after the Greek debt crisis that began in 2009. However, it has since regained support and is now the second-largest party in the Greek Parliament.

PASOK was founded on September 3, 1974, by Andreas Papandreou. This was right after the fall of a military dictatorship in Greece, a period when the country was returning to democracy.

History of PASOK
International Connections
Election Results
- Hellenic Parliament
- European Parliament
Party leaders
Images for kids
See also

History of PASOK

How PASOK Started

PASOK was created in 1974, a very important year for Greece. The country had just ended seven years of rule by a military government, called the Greek military junta. The party's founder, Andreas Papandreou, was a charismatic leader whose father had also been a prime minister of Greece.

The new party's main goals were "National Independence, Popular Sovereignty, Social Emancipation, Democratic Process." This meant they wanted Greece to be independent, for the people to have the power, for society to be fair for everyone, and to have a democratic government.

In its first election in 1974, PASOK came in third place. But just three years later, in 1977, it became the second-largest party and the main opposition to the government.

PASOK in Government

In the 1981 election, PASOK won by a large margin. It formed the first socialist government in Greece in over 50 years. As prime minister, Andreas Papandreou's government made many important changes.

One of the biggest changes was creating a National Health System. This gave people, especially in rural areas, access to modern healthcare for the first time. The government also improved workers' rights, increased support for families, and gave more rights to women. For example, it ended the old system of dowry (where a bride's family gives money or property to the groom) and made civil marriage legal.

PASOK won again in 1985 and continued to govern. However, by the late 1980s, the party faced challenges, including accusations of financial wrongdoing. After a few years out of power, PASOK and Papandreou made a big comeback, winning the 1993 election.

The Modernization Era

Costas Simitis (left) with Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Commission President Romano Prodi

In 1996, Andreas Papandreou's health was failing, and he stepped down. Costas Simitis became the new leader of PASOK and the prime minister. Simitis was seen as a modernizer who wanted Greece to have stronger ties with the rest of Europe.

Under Simitis, Greece had two major successes. In 1997, the country won the bid to host the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Then, in 2001, Greece was accepted into the Eurozone, which meant it could start using the euro as its currency. Simitis and PASOK won elections in 1996 and 2000.

Leadership of George Papandreou

A PASOK election booth in Athens during the 2007 campaign.

In 2004, George Papandreou, the son of the party's founder, became the new leader. However, in the election that year, PASOK lost to New Democracy after being in power for 11 years.

Papandreou led the party back to victory in the 2009 election. But this was just before the start of a major financial crisis in Greece. The government had to agree to a bailout plan with international organizations. This plan required tough spending cuts, which were very unpopular with the Greek people.

A Time of Decline

ElectionMonthlyAverageGraphGreeceMay2012

This graph shows how support for PASOK (green line) dropped before the 2012 election.

The government's handling of the debt crisis caused PASOK to lose a huge amount of support. In the 2009 election, the party had won with nearly 44% of the vote. By the January 2015 election, its support had fallen to less than 5%.

This dramatic fall in popularity became known as Pasokification. The term is now used across Europe to describe when a major center-left party suddenly loses most of its voters.

To try and stop the decline, the party formed alliances with other smaller parties. First, it created the Olive Tree alliance for the 2014 European elections. Then, it formed the Democratic Alignment for the September 2015 election.

The Movement for Change (KINAL)

In 2017, PASOK joined with other center-left groups to create a new political alliance called the Movement for Change, or KINAL. Fofi Gennimata, who had become PASOK's leader in 2015, was elected to lead the new alliance.

Under the KINAL name, the party started to slowly regain support. In the 2019 election, it became the third-largest party in the Greek Parliament.

After Fofi Gennimata sadly passed away in 2021, Nikos Androulakis was elected as the new leader.

The Return of PASOK

On May 9, 2022, the alliance officially changed its name back to PASOK – Movement for Change. It also brought back the party's famous green sun logo.

In the May 2023 election, PASOK-KINAL's support grew, and it won 41 seats in Parliament. This raised hopes that the party could once again become a major force in Greek politics. In the June 2023 election, the party won 32 seats, becoming the second-largest party in Parliament in November 2024 after some members of the main opposition party left.

International Connections

PASOK is part of several international groups of similar political parties. These include the Party of European Socialists and the Socialist International. In the European Parliament, its members are part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group.

Election Results

Hellenic Parliament

Election	Hellenic Parliament					Rank	Government	Leader
Election	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won	+/−	Rank	Government	Leader
1974	666,413	13.58%	New	12 / 300	12	3rd	Opposition	Andreas Papandreou
1977	1,300,025	25.34%	+11.76	93 / 300	81	2nd	Opposition
1981	2,726,309	48.07%	+22.73	172 / 300	79	1st	Government
1985	2,916,735	45.82%	−2.25	161 / 300	11	1st	Government
Jun 1989	2,551,518	39.13%	−6.69	125 / 300	36	2nd	Opposition
Nov 1989	2,724,334	40.67%	+1.54	128 / 300	3	2nd	Coalition
1990	2,543,042	38.61%	−2.06	123 / 300	5	2nd	Opposition
1993	3,235,017	46.88%	+8.27	170 / 300	47	1st	Government
1996	2,814,779	41.49%	−5.39	162 / 300	8	1st	Government	Costas Simitis
2000	3,007,596	43.79%	+2.40	158 / 300	3	1st	Government	Costas Simitis
2004	3,003,988	40.55%	−3.34	117 / 300	41	2nd	Opposition	George Papandreou
2007	2,727,279	38.10%	−2.45	102 / 300	15	2nd	Opposition
2009	3,012,373	43.92%	+5.82	160 / 300	58	1st	Government
May 2012	833,452	13.18%	−30.74	41 / 300	119	3rd	Snap election	Evangelos Venizelos
Jun 2012	756,024	12.28%	−0.80	33 / 300	8	3rd	Coalition
Jan 2015	289,469	4.68%	−7.60	13 / 300	20	7th	Opposition
Sep 2015	341,390 (DISY)	6.29% (DISY)	+1.13	16 / 300	3	4th	Opposition	Fofi Gennimata
2019	457,519 (KINAL)	8.10% (KINAL)	+1.81	19 / 300	3	3rd	Opposition	Fofi Gennimata
May 2023	676,165 (PASOK–KINAL)	11.46% (PASOK–KINAL)	+3.36	40 / 300	21	3rd	Snap election	Nikos Androulakis
Jun 2023	617,574 (PASOK–KINAL)	11.84% (PASOK–KINAL)	+0.38	31 / 300	9	3rd	Opposition	Nikos Androulakis

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won	+/−	Rank	Leader	EP Group
1981	2,278,030	40.12%	New	10 / 24	New	1st	Andreas Papandreou	SOC
1984	2,476,491	41.58%	+1.46	10 / 24	0	1st
1989	2,352,271	35.96%	−5.62	9 / 24	1	2nd
1994	2,458,619	37.64%	+1.68	10 / 25	1	1st		PES
1999	2,115,844	32.91%	−4.73	9 / 25	1	2nd	Costas Simitis
2004	2,083,327	34.03%	+1.12	8 / 24	1	2nd	George Papandreou
2009	1,878,859	36.65%	+2.62	8 / 22	0	1st	George Papandreou	S&D
2014	458,403 (Elia)	8.02% (Elia)	−28.63	2 / 21	6	4th	Evangelos Venizelos
2019	436,726 (KINAL)	7.72% (KINAL)	−0.30	2 / 21	0	3rd	Fofi Gennimata
2024	508,399 (PASOK–KINAL)	12.79% (PASOK–KINAL)	+5.07	3 / 21	1	3rd	Nikos Androulakis

Party leaders

	Leader	Term of office		Prime Minister
1	Andreas Papandreou	3 September 1974	23 June 1996	1981–1989 1993–1996
2	Costas Simitis	30 June 1996	8 February 2004	1996–2004
3	George Papandreou	8 February 2004	18 March 2012	2009–2011
4	Evangelos Venizelos	18 March 2012	14 June 2015	—
5	Fofi Gennimata	14 June 2015	25 October 2021	—
6	Nikos Androulakis	12 December 2021	Incumbent	—