Nikos Androulakis surprised everyone in PASOK when he proceeded with the expulsion of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and PASOK MP Odysseas Konstantinopoulos. Even Konstantinopoulos himself was surprised, learning about his expulsion from protothema.gr.

In a move considered extremely high-risk but with an obvious purpose, Nikos Androulakis chose to adopt a hard line by expelling his former closest associate, Odysseas Konstantinopoulos.

“It is clear that the reason PASOK invokes — criticism of Sánchez — is obviously a pretext, if not ridiculous,” commented experienced party officials.

Konstantinopoulos: Expulsion is the last refuge of a fearful leadership

The expelled MP himself stated:
“Expulsion is the last refuge of a fearful leadership. After 20 years of consistent service in PASOK, and being among the very few who remained during the difficult years of the party, Mr. Androulakis expelled me because I told the truth — something everyone knows but he refuses to accept.”

According to assessments, the real target of this move was Androulakis’ potential internal challengers among the party’s leading figures, while secondarily it aimed to rally his supporters ahead of the congress.

What Androulakis wanted to pre-empt ahead of the congress

According to experienced party members, Androulakis seems to have realized that he would face a bloc formed by almost everyone — except Anna Diamantopoulou and Manolis Christodoulakis — and tried to “strike it” before the congress could ignite internal conflict.

It is also clear that Androulakis had been hearing harsh criticism about PASOK’s low polling numbers, the lack of internal party functioning, and the strategy being followed.

However, most agree that the PASOK congress is already “set up” for a clear victory for Androulakis (over 60–65%). Therefore, a display of toughness not only made little sense but also carries risk.

“When he expels Odysseas Konstantinopoulos, who in the end didn’t even say anything that serious, what should he have done with Doukas, Diamantopoulou, or Geroulanos?” said a PASOK official.
“He runs the risk of it being interpreted that he wants to turn the party into a personal vehicle,” added an MP.
Another found the justification for the expulsion — because he criticized Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez — laughable.
“He clearly had it in for him, but turning Odysseas into his main opponent is unprecedented.”

The beginning of the Konstantinopoulos–Androulakis clash

Senior officials who spoke to protothema.gr said they were completely surprised by the development. They were aware, however, that relations between Androulakis and Konstantinopoulos had been broken for a long time.

Although the MP from Arcadia had once been Androulakis’ closest associate and contributed to his election as PASOK president, the two men soon fell out.

One of the triggers, according to insiders, was that during the previous elections the PASOK president had placed a rival candidate against Konstantinopoulos in Arcadia — the doctor and regional councilor from Petros Tatoulis’ faction, Vangelis Giannakouras. Konstantinopoulos viewed this as a “casus belli.”

Despite his objections, Androulakis eventually announced the candidate lists months later including Giannakouras.

Konstantinopoulos chose to respond at the ballot box — and succeeded: he was re-elected as MP for Arcadia, leaving his rival out of parliament.

From then on their relations became hostile, while Konstantinopoulos supported Haris Doukas in the party’s internal leadership elections.

How PASOK’s top figures will react

Although Konstantinopoulos occasionally voiced criticism in a careful manner, no one expected this move.

The question now is how the party’s leading figures will react. According to protothema.gr, Anna Diamantopoulou does not intend to make a public comment for now, while Haris Doukas and Pavlos Geroulanos are considering the timing of their response.

“Androulakis is seeking confrontation to rally his supporters and perhaps looking for a pretext to get rid of inconvenient voices,” said an experienced official who supported Doukas in the leadership elections. He added:

“You choose the field where you fight the battle; you don’t fight it where your opponent wants.”