Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou was elected on Sunday as President of Greek ruling party PASOK in party elections during which he stood as the sole candidate, according to preliminary results announced in Athens. 

With the results of only a handful of polling stations to be announced, out of 1,013,533 votes cast by members and friends of the ruling party, Papandreou gathered 1,011,858 votes.

Papandreou welcomed the results, saying that it constituted "a new mandate for him to proceed on the road of change and overturning."

"A new page is turning today, a different sun is rising," he said in a gathering in the historic town of Kileler in central Greece after the announcement. "An experiment of democracy has succeeded."

"We sign a new contract of unity which will serve institutions and values. We are creating a new national unity with national consensus. We are proceeding to confront the difficult tomorrow, making breakthroughs in the state and creating a social state. And in this new state we want the voice of everyone," he said.

The new PASOK party president, son of the late Andreas Papandreou, the PASOK party's founder and premier for many years, Papandreou stressed that the citizen "gives a mandate for us to change our party, to change Greece."

He expressed his confidence that he would outstrip main opposition party New Democracy (ND) and lead the ruling party to another victory in general elections, scheduled on March 7.

In an unprecedented procedure, PASOK registered voters and "friends" were also given the opportunity to vote for the uncontested Papandreou at some 3,000 polling stations set up throughout the country, and another 115 abroad.

"Today is a historic day for PASOK," which was "implementing a new way for the election of the PASOK president, a procedure open to society," said Greek Prime minister Costas Simitis earlier in the day, who resigned from the post of party leadership last month to pave the way for Papandreou.

The ruling PASOK party's three-day extraordinary congress concluded Sunday after formally endorsing Papandreou as the new party president.

However, ND party leader Costas Karamanlis termed the election of George Papandreou as ruling PASOK party president as "the formal crowning of a public relations decision which had been taken some time ago."

"A sole candidate in a procedure is unprecedented," he criticized.

Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) leader Dimitris Tsovolas described Sunday's election as a "parody."  

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2004)