Comeback for Europe's Social Democrats?
At the latest since Germany's new SPD chancellor Olaf Scholz took office, Europe's centre-left parties see themselves on the advance after a long dry spell. Commentators discuss what needs to happen for the former workers' parties to set new standards in Europe.
Invest in a viable future
Particularly in a pandemic, social democratic values are all the more relevant, writes El País:
“The global uncertainty that the coronavirus has generated has also created the vision of a different future. ... During his election campaign Olaf Scholz did not forget to talk of the dignity of all jobs. ... The EU's Next Generation multi-year funding offers a historically unique opportunity for profound change. ... It is no longer enough to defend the social achievements of the past. Social democracy must formulate a credible alternative for the present and the future and courageously confront the migration-related tensions that will not come to an end in Europe.”
Countering populism from the left and right
Nikos Androulakis (42) is the new leader of the socialist Movement for Change party Kinal (successor party of the former mainstream party Pasok). In the run-off election on Sunday, Androulakis prevailed against former Pasok leader and ex-PM Giorgos Papandreou. To Vima hopes for a new beginning:
“Now that social democratic parties around the world are becoming a force for stability, progress and realism, the Greek centre-left party has a historic chance to recover and reclaim its rightful place. ... Whether it succeeds in making a comeback will determine whether the sirens of left-wing and right-wing populism, for which the country has paid dearly, will finally be silenced.”