A second round of voting in Athens, Thessaloniki and Piraeus

19 May 2014 / 10:05:18 GRReporter

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Photo: Naftemporiki

After the official counting of more than 90% of the votes the winners in the local elections in Greece are still unclear. The initial triumph of SYRIZA was too hasty, as its main candidates in Athens and Attica will proceed to a second round next Sunday.
    In Athens, the result of independent George Kaminis is 21.05% of the votes and of SYRIZA representative Gabriel Sakellaridis 20% of the ballots.
    In Attica district, Rena Dourou from SYRIZA receives 23.73% of the vote for governor and her rival, independent Yiannis Sgouros 22.18%.
    In Thessaloniki, recent independent Mayor Yiannis Boutaris is holding the lead with 36.03% but this is insufficient and he will fight in the second round with candidate of the ruling New Democracy Stavros Kalafatis, who receives 26.19% of the votes.
    In Piraeus, football boss from "Olympiakos" club Yiannis Moralis is preferred with 33.24% of the votes and will compete in the second round with recent Mayor Vassilis Michaloliakos, who is supported by 31.32% of voters. The success of another football boss, namely Ahileas Beos is similar. He leads with 38.14% to Margaritis Patsiatas, 24.91%, and will run against him for the mayoral seat in Volos on 25 May.
   Only one governor was elected in the first round, namely Alexandros Kahrimanis who won in Epirus with 50.71% of the vote. Only nine of the big cities will not vote for mayor next Sunday, including Alexandroupolis, Katerini, Komotini and Grevena. The total number of mayors elected in the first round is 40.
    Analysts emphasize the increased results of Golden Dawn in different areas of Greece, as follows:
    Attica district - 11.31%
    The Peloponnese - 9.04%
    Central Macedonia - 8.71%
    Central Greece - 8.5%
    Western Greece - 7.94%
    Thessaly - 6.85%
    Voting activity was over 60% or the same as in the previous elections for local authorities in 2010 .