The new president of PASOK, immediately after his election to the leadership of the Party, spoke about the mistakes that were made, but also about the hope that is being reborn. More specifically, Mr. Venizelos, among other things, stated:
"People want to know the truth. The people want a strong progressive government. We are fully aware of our responsibilities. Our responsibility is great over time. I know very well how great the resentment and bitterness of the world is. However, in Greece there is a prospect of hope. The place has huge potential. It takes work, planning and determination.
Today is a spring day of hope. I take the responsibility to lead a collective effort. We feel the weight of expectation. Today, a relationship of trust has been re-established. We started. "
On Monday the delivery-receipt ceremony
On Monday, at 3 pm, the handover ceremony will take place at PASOK. The former president of PASOK left at around 9 tonight, from the offices on Ippokratous Street where he collaborated with Evangelos Venizelos.
Leaving, he went through the press room to greet the journalists, whom he informed about tomorrow's process in Hippocrates, which will follow the meeting of Prime Minister Loukas Papadimou with the new president of PASOK.
"Understanding how difficult reality is"
PASOK is rediscovering itself and the people who make it up, said Evangelos Venizelos from the New Philadelphia polling station, where he came and voted for the new leadership of PASOK, accompanied by his wife and daughter.
Mr. Venizelos expressed his satisfaction for the participation of the members and friends of the Movement in the electoral process, which he characterized as very positive and satisfactory. He added that all those who believe that the great democratic faction can not recover will be refuted.
He also said that concrete and realistic things must be done in the country, in order to remain upright with unity, honesty and solidarity. To show that there is hope, that losses can be addressed and injustices redressed.
The full text of Venizelos' statement is as follows:
"Today, March 18, which is the anniversary of the death of Eleftherios Venizelos, PASOK meets again with Greek society, meets again with every Greek woman and every Greek, shakes his hand.
We welcome our friends, our members, every citizen who feels that Greece needs a progressive, responsible political solution, here in our organizations, in the places where the ballot boxes have been set up for the election of the new President. The election of the new President is not my election that happened, under very difficult circumstances, to be called upon to lift this burden. It is a starting point.
Like I said, today we start. We begin a great effort to talk to the people, mainly to listen to the people and to speak to them in a friendly, fraternal, responsible way, to tell them concrete, realistic things, in the language of honesty, in the language of truth.
Because our Nation, our homeland can stand only when we have unity, solidarity, but also when we communicate with each other with great sincerity, when we understand how difficult reality is, but also how hope exists now, how they are formed now the conditions for the cycle to turn, for us to get back on a growth trajectory, for us to be able to fill the gaps, to make up for the losses, to redress injustices.
This message is important for all the Greek people, but mainly for the weakest, for the lower income strata, for the middle class that we must rebuild.
So, today, on March 18, now that Spring is about to enter with the vernal equinox, PASOK finds itself again, finds its soul again, finds the people who make it up. Because PASOK is not its leaders, it is not its organizational fabric, it is its very social base. That is why today is a very important day.
I am sure that with the large turnout, the wide turnout - the samples are already from the first hour very positive, very satisfactory - we will refute all those who think that the great democratic faction can not recover. PASOK is here ".