Ruling ND wins most local elections, opposition parties lose

The ruling New Democracy party won 7 of Greece’s 13 regions and several municipalities in the first round of local elections on Sunday.

The second round of elections next Sunday will determine whether Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis succeeds in achieving his “13+3” goal of winning all 13 regions plus the municipalities of the three largest cities – Athens, Thessaloniki and Piraeus.

The mayor of Piraeus was elected on Sunday with an impressive 70% result, and in Athens and Thessaloniki voters will have the final say on October 15.

Nationwide turnout was only 52%. Despite disasters such as forest fires in the summer and severe floods in September, ND candidates managed to garner a majority of local votes, although they failed to secure the required 43%+1 vote. Therefore, the second round will decide everything.

Opposition parties have not been able to achieve satisfactory results, especially the main left-wing opposition SYRIZA, which is experiencing serious problems due to intra-party contradictions.

The socialist PASOK also showed weak results, and only the communist KKE was able to increase its percentage in the cities. Some examples of Sunday elections:

Nikos Hardalias (ND), head of civil protection during the Covid-19 pandemic and deputy defense minister, who “unofficially” left his post to run for Greece’s most populous region of Attica, won with 46.74%.

The cousin of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the current mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis (ND) received 41% of the votes, and will fight Haris Doukas (PASOK) next Sunday. SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis said the party would support Doukas. It is worth noting that on October 8, only 38% of Athenians.

In Volos, current mayor Achilleas Beos scored 55.02%, despite much criticism related to flood damage.

In Thessaly (central Greece), Kostas Agorastos (ND) received 41.37%, while his main rival Dimitris Kouretas received over 34%. Agorastos, which received 58% in the first round in 2019, paid a price for its response to September’s catastrophic floods.

In Nafplio the mayor, throwing dog excrement at his rival’s house and garbage, leads the race with 33.51%.

Election results on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website: municipal here – regional ones here.

PS The number of voters of 52% (if, of course, there were no additions) clearly indicates to the authorities that the population is disillusioned with politics and politicians. Why did the Greeks vote the way they did, despite the floods, high cost of living, soaring food prices, etc.? Because at the local level, citizens have closer contact with candidates, they like to vote for nephews, nieces, neighbor children and sons-in-law, for anyone who will bring them closer to political power and in return for their votes will give them a lucrative contract or a job.

Moreover, opposition parties have apparently offered no significant alternative to local residents. As the unforgettable character of Ukrainian politics aptly put it, “Maemo those who maєmo“.

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