Ten candidates line up for top job in center-left party
Three more candidates threw their hat into the race for the leadership of Greece’s new center-left political party on Friday – the deadline to submit their nomination.
The leader of the Union of Democratic National Reform movement (EDEM), Apostolos Pontas, the former dean of the Athens University of Economics and Business, Constantinos Gatsios, and Dimitris Tziolis, a prominent entrepreneur, have raised the tally of suitors to 10. The other candidates are PASOK leader Fofi Genimata, Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis, the leader of centrist To Potami, Stavros Theodorakis, PASOK MP Odysseas Constantinopoulos, PASOK MP and former minister Yiannis Maniatis, ex-socialist minister Yiannis Ragousis and PASOK MEP Nikos Androulakis.
The first round of elections is set to be held on November 5, while a runoff vote has been scheduled a week later. The party aspires to occupy the political space between ruling SYRIZA and the conservative New Democracy opposition.
However, the large number of candidates is a source of concern within PASOK and To Potami, as officials said Friday it could shift the attention of the public debate on the future of the center-left to the individual aspirants for its leadership.
PASOK officials said Friday it “went without saying” that Gennimata would like discussions to focus on the political issues and the ideas candidates bring to the table.
