GREECE-POLITICS-PASOK-SIMITIS

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis waves goodbye to members of his ruling party PASOK, after he resigned from its presidency, on the first day of an extraordinary congress in the closed Olympic hall of Nikia, in Athens 06 February 2004. Greece's ruling Socialists voted unanimously to approve a change in the PASOK party's statute that will allow Foreign Minister George Papandreou, the only candidate for the post, to be directly elected in an unprecedented, nationwide public poll in two days, preparing the way for Papandreou to become party president and lead them into a general election next month. AFP PHOTO/FAYEZ NURELDINE (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)