By Antonis Anzoletou

Fifty days before the first round of self-governing elections, the political forces do not have much time to reorganize their forces. And this mainly concerns the opposition, as New Democracy with the “air” of 40.56% of the recent popular verdict can hope for a very good result. In the parties, they have taken paper and pencil and note what they achieved in the regional and municipal elections five years ago, but also the “score” in the large municipalities last June. The “Mother of Battles” will be given once again in the capital given that after the change of the electoral law the “game in all regions and municipalities is played differently”. If in the first round a candidate gets 43%+1 votes, he will be elected from the first Sunday. THE Kostas Bakoyannis hoped for a very strong rate on October 8, as in May 2019 it had recorded 42.65%. SYRIZA with Nasos Iliopoulos had passed to the next round with 16.98%, third was Pavlos Geroulanos with 13.19%, fourth was the condemned Ilias Kasidiaris (10.54%) and fifth was Nikos Sofianos from the KKE with 7.46 %.

The data for the largest municipality of the country are as follows: “Athens high” of Costas Bakoyannis has already announced the faction’s ballot which is 70% renewed. The capital has 129 neighborhoods and the current mayor constantly talks about the work that has been done in each of them. His goal for the new five-year period is a city with the tools to modernize the services of the Municipality, partnerships with the private sector, strengthening specialized workshops, promoting the culture of recycling. Athens to become a green city with well-kept and visitable existing green spaces and the creation of new ones. Although municipal elections have clearly more personal characteristics, the performance of New Democracy in the June elections is a “guide” for what the party can expect. He recorded 43.27% in the first district of Athens, leaving a promise that he can “finish” the electoral battle from the first Sunday.

The big bet for SYRIZA is the candidacy of Kostas Zachariadis. The top executive of the party assumed the responsibility to represent the official opposition in Athens “waking up”, however “internal party passions” that led Koumoundourou to unnecessary disputes against the backdrop of the election of the new president. With SYRIZA now in a transitional period, it has taken on the difficult task of achieving a good result and finding itself in the second round of the elections by rallying wider progressive forces. After all, he himself was from the first moment an advocate of the expansion towards the area of ​​the center. He has already started his criticism of the municipal authority of Athens emphasizing the Great Promenade and the University Street. In 2014, Gavriil Sakellaridis was very close to claiming the mayorship and in 2019, Nasos Iliopoulos managed to face off against Kostas Bakoyannis on the second Sunday. He recorded a percentage of 34.75% (Kostas Bakoyannis 65.25%). In June, SYRIZA won 19.97% of the votes in Athens A, surpassing the national average of the party. Kostas Zachariadis considers that local self-government is a field of politics that lends itself to convergences and collaborations. In Koumoundourou they are optimistic about his candidacy.

The personal choice of Nikos Androulakis is for the municipality of Athens, he is the professor of NTUA Harry Doukas. PASOK in the previous double national elections showed that it is extremely weak in the big urban centers. It is typical that in Athens A, it finished fourth with a percentage of 6.86% behind the KKE. The head of Harilaou Trikoupi has decide to move independently, that is why he rejected the scenarios that wanted cooperation with SYRIZA in the country’s largest municipality. He wishes with a good double-digit percentage to raise his numbers and show the dynamics his party has in view of the upcoming European elections. At NTUA he deals with energy, the environment, the climate in big cities and is a choice with strong technocratic characteristics.

Everyone’s eyes in the coming municipal elections will not only be focused on the winner of the municipality of Athens, but also on the candidacy of Ilias Kasidiaris. Opposition forces are already criticizing the government because it does not bring a legislative initiative, as was done in the national polls, to prohibit him from participating. PASOK has committed to take the relevant initiative. It is a given that based on Law 3852 of 2010, even if a municipal councilor is elected, he will lose his office and therefore Maximos considers that no new legislation is necessary. All of them, however, are concerned about the rate that the incarcerated person will record in prisons Ilias Kasidiaris in the upcoming elections. What will it mean for the far-right forces if it achieves a higher percentage than in 2019. Already the “mutiny” in the Spartans in favor of the convicted former member of the Golden Dawn shows a worrying mobility in the “far-right apartment building”. The opposition talks about the need for a decisive response to the extreme right and fascism at the municipal election ballot.

From the KKE they hope that after the increase of the party’s percentages in the national elections they can achieve a much better percentage in Athens and for this reason they once again support his candidacy Nikos Sofianos. In the next period, the possibility of holding a debate between the main candidates for the municipality of Athens is expected to be on the table.