NEWS

Samaras calls for stability after New Democracy’s mixed results in local polls

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has challenged voters to show that “Greece has the stability it deserves” in next Sunday’s European Parliament elections and second round of local polls after voting in the first round on Sunday brought mixed results for the conservatives.

“It is in Greeks’ hands to either contribute to there being certainty that we will progress with steady steps or to let the country slide backwards,” Samaras said late on Sunday night.

His party performed poorly in Greece’s main municipalities (Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki) and its two biggest regions (Attica and Central Macedonia). However, New Democracy led in nine of the 13 regions across the country going into the second round.

Samaras’s comment suggest that New Democracy will focus on the stability issue going into Sunday’s European Parliament elections, which could prompt a test of the coalition’s sustainability.

Government sources vehemently denied that Samaras considered suggesting snap elections after seeing New Democracy failing to get a candidate into the second round of voting in Athens Municipality for the first time in its history and seeing SYRIZA’s Rena Dourou edging ahead in Attica, where around a third of Greek voters are based.

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