The Movement of Democratic Socialists (, ''Kinima Dimokraton Sosialiston'') is a political party in Greece established on 3 January 2015 by

George Papandreou George Andreas Papandreou (, , shortened to ''Giorgos'' () to distinguish him from his grandfather; born 16 June 1952) is an American-born Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011. He is currently serving as a ...

after splitting from the

Panhellenic Socialist Movement The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK (; , ), is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was one of the two major parties in the country, along with New Democracy, its main political r ...

(PASOK). The party officially uses To Kinima (Το Κίνημα, "The Movement") as the party's name abbreviation, although several media outlets and opinion pollsters have referred to it using the acronym KIDISO (ΚΙΔΗΣΟ). Since 12 January 2017 it is a component of

PASOK – Movement for Change The PASOK – Movement for Change (PASOK-KINAL; , ΚΙΝΑΛ) is a political alliance in Greece, mainly affiliated with the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. It Pro-Europeanism, supports Greece's membership in the Euro ...

History

Formation

The foundation of a new

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

political party was announced on 2 January 2015 by

, outgoing

Member of the Hellenic Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme democratic instit ...

and former

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (), usually referred to as the prime minister of Greece (), is the head of government of the Greece, Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Cabinet of Greece, Greek Cabinet. The officeholder's of ...

, three weeks before the upcoming election to be held on 25 January. This confirmed Papandreou's split from the

(PASOK), which he had led until being replaced as leader by

Evangelos Venizelos Evangelos Venizelos (, ; born 1 January 1957) is a Greek academic and retired politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Greece from 2011 to 2015, as well as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 25 June 2013 to 27 January 2015 and Minister ...

in March 2012. PASOK officials immediately denounced Papandreou's move as an "unethical and irrational political act", accusing Papandreou of fracturing PASOK and being motivated by personal ambition. On 3 January 2015, KIDISO was officially founded in the auditorium of the

Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the modern ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Five PASOK MPs joined the new party, including Papandreou and former minister

Filippos Sachinidis Filippos Sachinidis (; born 1963) is a Greek politician of the Movement for Change. Elected on the list of his former party PASOK, he served as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament from 2007 to 2014. In 2012, he briefly served as Minister of Finan ...

, who would serve as the party’s media representative alongside former deputy minister George Petalotis. Other well known PASOK politicians who joined KIDISO include former parliamentary speaker

Filippos Petsalnikos Filippos Petsalnikos (; 1 December 1950 – 13 March 2020) was a Greek politician of the Movement of Democratic Socialists. From 2009 to 2012, he served as Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament. Before, he was a Member of the Hellenic Parliament fro ...

and former minister

Dimitris Reppas Dimitris Reppas (; born July 6, 1952, in Leonidio, Arcadia) is a Greek politician of the Movement of Democratic Socialists and a current Member of the Hellenic Parliament. From 2009 to 2012 he served as Minister for Infrastructure, Transport ...

. A 16-page founding declaration, signed by 252 founding members criticised the economic policies of the European institutions, supported the adoption of Eurobonds, and called for a "progressive, socialist, ecological Europe".

2015–present

In the January 2015 legislative election, KIDISO received 2.46% of the national vote, thus failing to cross the 3% threshold to receive seats in the

Hellenic Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme demo ...

. On 27 August 2015, PASOK officially ruled out a proposed electoral pact with KIDISO for the upcoming September 2015 snap election. On 2 September 2015, Papandreou stated that financial restrictions meant that KIDISO had ruled out contesting the election. On 12 January 2017, Papandreou and PASOK leader

Fofi Gennimata Fotini "Fofi" Gennimata ( ; 17 November 1964 – 25 October 2021) was a Greek politician who served as president of the PASOK, Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) from 2015 to 2021. During her tenure as party leader, she also co-founded and l ...

announced that KIDISO was joining the Democratic Alignment. KIDISO later joined the

Movement for Change The Gorran Movement (, ''Movement for Change'') or just Gorran (''Change'') is a Kurds in Iraq, Kurdish political party in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The party is led by Dana Ahmed Majid, it was formerly under the leadership of Omar Said ...

(KINAL) together with PASOK, DIMAR and To Potami. Two party members, leader

and former PASOK minister

Haris Kastanidis Haris Kastanidis (, born 11 March 1956 in Thessaloniki, Greece) is a Greek politician who served as Minister for Justice, Transparency and Human Rights and Minister for the Interior under George Papandreou. A former member of the Panhellenic ...

, were among the 22 KINAL MPs elected in 2019. As a result of the decision by

Nikos Androulakis Nikos Androulakis (; born 7 February 1979) is a Greek politician who serves as president of the PASOK – Movement for Change since 2021. He served also as Member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2023. He was elected as member of the Hell ...

to exercise his prerogative as party leader to retain the single

Thessaloniki A Thessaloniki Alpha () is an electoral constituency of the Hellenic Parliament. With an electorate of 531,732 eligible voters (as of 2019) in the urban area of Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, it elects sixteen members of parliament. The const ...

seat won by PASOK–KINAL in the

May 2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy, the longest-lasting recorded tropical cyclone in history in the ...

and June 2023 elections, Haris Kastanidis is no longer a member of parliament.

Election results

Hellenic Parliament

Ministry of the Interion

References

External links

* {{Greek political parties 2015 establishments in Greece
Political parties established in 2015 Pro-European political parties in Greece Social democratic parties in Greece Multicultural parties in Greece Organizations based in Athens