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George Papandreou will not be a candidate for the leadership post in PASOK, nor will he be a candidate for Prime Minister on the following parliamentary elections in Greece. This is what he himself announced on the meeting of the Political Council of the Socialists. Papandreou did not resign as the leader of the party, founded by his father Andreas, but he just promised he will not run again. Exactly when the former Prime Minister will resign from the party leadership is not clear, but it is certain that it will be after the next elections, whenever they take place.

According to PASOK spokesman Panos Beglitis if elections are held in April, after convening the Congress of Socialists they will vote for their leader in June. If the elections take place in autumn, the Socialists will vote for their leader after that. The choice will be done by the whole membership, not only by the delegates of the congress. This was also the desire of most senior executives of the party.

During the pre-election campaign the Socialists will be led by Prime Minister candidate who will not be called George Papandreou. He will eventually be chosen by the PASOK parliamentary group, but Papandreou said he was open to other suggestions. However, it is unclear who will arrange the party’s bulletins - the active President George Papandreou or the Prime Minister candidate, whoever he is.

Some members of the political council as Silvana Rapti and Yannis Mihas have insisted the party leader to be replaced before the elections take place.

"The Socialists wanted Papandreou to withdraw from the party leadership in order to enable the party to take a new person, who at least theoretically will have a chance to distinguish PASOK from the disastrous Papandreou government in the past two years," commented political observers. They wonder who will hold de facto the power in PASOK, if Papandreou remains in office but the party has another person for the elections. "Who will express the party’s opinion before Prime Minsiter Lucas Papademos? Who will negotiate with the Troika? The new Prime Minister candidate? Then why Papandreou does not want to resign if the party will in practice be guided by another?" commentators ask themselves and conclude that "this is probably just another trick by George Papandreou."