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This weekend To Potami (the river - author’s note), the political movement created by famous journalist Stavros Theodorakis, will hold its first congress. Ever since its emergence on the political horizon, it has attracted many voters and their support was evident in the results of the European elections as To Potami was able to appoint two MEPs, namely Professor at the University of Crete George Gramatikakis and Miltiadis Kirkos, the son of the famous leader of the Greek Left, Leonidas Kirkos.

So far, Theodorakis has not yet announced the place of To Potami in the political spectrum. Its two MEPs will join the parliamentary group of the European Socialists, but as independent members. What will the first congress clarify? In response to this question, GRReporter offers you the analysis by Greek journalist Katerina Anesti published by iefimerida.gr.

Stavros Theodorakis is below par, however, not only because of the heat. The reason is that he is writing and deleting, and re-writing, the speech he will deliver at the first congress of To Potami on Friday afternoon. The reason is also that he personally would prefer to be dressed in shorts and wearing sandals but his collaborators make him wear a jacket. Stavros Theodorakis will have to deliver his first strictly political presentation in Lavrio Technological Park. This time he will not hold a simple discussion, walking across the stage with his backpack on his back, he will not be saying things "from the bottom of his heart", he will not pause to remember his thought. He will stand on a podium with twenty A4 pages printed in font size 25, he will wear a jacket and deliver his speech at the outdoor amphitheatre of the Park.

On Thursday at noon, while his associates are arranging the place where the congress will be held and the final details of where about 1,000 participants will sit, wondering how they will deal with the heat (the windows will be open because of the lack of air conditioning) and testing the lighting, Stavros Theodorakis is sitting in front of a laptop, writing, deleting and compiling his speech. One sentence, however, will never change no matter what happens. And it is the following: "Some talk about reorganizing the right wing, others about the reorganization of the left wing. We have created To Potami to talk about the reorganization of the country."

The movement invited to the three-day congress composer and singer Dionysis Savopoulos. Even if he fails to attend it, the participants will hear his song entitled "What I played in Lavrio" and the verse: "I am big, I wear braces and glasses and I am still afraid of tomorrow." Earlier today, during his third television appearance after the European elections and wearing a "Mao" style shirt, Stavros Theodorakis set the tone, "We will be in Lavrio where, if you remove "L" it will become "tomorrow" (avrio - tomorrow - author’s note). This will be the message of the congress, which has already provoked a number of comments and jokes on the social networks.

The dress code is quite casual - shorts and sandals are permitted. Anyway, "even Stavros himself will probably be dressed like that on Sunday." All this on the day when the name of the party leader chosen by the congress will be announced as well as its manifesto...
 
One cannot help but wonder how things would evolve if the congress were actually held in a camp, as initially announced. "Okay, Stavros said it once in a speech, as he was excited. Let us assume that this is one of To Potami’s infantile disorders," his close associates said. The idea belonged to the person in charge of communications, Kostas Argyros, who based it on symbols - the Lavrio area was hit by the industrial activity in the past but it has its own history and memory. Therefore, the Technology Park was preferred as the venue of the congress.

The rooms are provided free of charge by the Polytechnic School in Athens which is their owner. Everything is ready, including banners, posters, materials for the participants, microphones, installations. The first congress of To Potami will cost about 10,000 euro, it will last three days and its aim is to attract about 1,000 people. Each of them will have to pay 5 euro. The movement hopes to raise funds also by selling T-shirts and other items. Anyway, the funding that it will obtain for its success in the European elections will not come before September.

Stavros Theodorakis knows to perfection the art of image as well as how a frame can send plenty of messages. Maybe he has been below par a little more often in recent days. How will he sneak in the model of a political leader on a rostrum, turning over a lot of pages and sweating in his jacket? In Lavrio the TV picture will be under the control of a magician of political image, namely Giorgos Sioulas, the director who followed George Papandreou during his major speeches and political rallies.