By Antonis Anzoletou

75% of the candidates became known from SYRIZA. Obviously, in the next period in waves from Koumoundourou and personally Alexis Tsipras will proceed to announce names that will give an image and an air of renewal to the party. After all, there are plenty of open positions and the party officials are talking about surprises to come. Indicatively, three persons are missing in Athens A to complete the list, seven in the southern sector and six in the northern and western sectors.

In 1st Thessaloniki there are eight that remain to be completed and in 2nd Thessaloniki four. The State ballot is administered by himself Alexis Tsipras and will be announced much later. The information states that Harvard Medical Professor Othonas Iliopoulos, former Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis and the party’s press representative Popi Tsapanidou will be elected.

The news that emerged from the ballots is that Yiannis Dragasakis will finally participate in the electoral battle from the western sector of Athens, that is, the district that was also elected in the previous elections. It will be a very interesting intra-party “battle”, as Efi Ahtsioglou and Rena Dourou, who nominated in the SYRIZA Congress elections, will contest in the same district. After the “failure” of Pavlos Polakis and the looming exclusion of Michalis Hairetakis from the list in Chania, the electoral contest between the former health deputy and Giorgos Stathakis will be special.

What they want to signal to SYRIZA with the ballots is the two-sided expansion that is not only limited to the center, but also spreads to the Left.

From his place PASOK, in Samos the candidates will be Manolis Karlas, who served as prefect in 2002, a doctor by profession, Dimitris Ravnalis in 2nd Thessaloniki, who was elected mayor of Assiros and Giorgos Armoutakis in Heraklion, former mayor of Phaistos. Zoe Anastasopoulou, regional councilor from KINAL, in Ilia, as well as the head of the major opposition of the Municipality of Igoumenitsa and former politician of PASOK Thesprotia, Yiannis Gogolos will also fight the battle of the cross.

In 2021, the former Deputy Minister of Education of PASOK, Symeon Kedikoglou, announced his joining the party and will be a candidate in Evia. In Kozani, a seat in the Parliament will be contested by former regional governor Theodoros Karipidis. Fotini Bakadima, who became independent from MeRA25 and joined K.O. of SYRIZA will enter the battle of 1st Piraeus. The former Member of Parliament of Pieria Zisis Zannas, who in August 2015 left the SYRIZA parliamentary group together with 24 of his colleagues forming the People’s Unity, returns to the lists of Koumoundourou.

The president’s contacts in search of new candidates continue, focusing on the scientific sector, on experienced professionals, workers, representatives of institutions and social groups.