Tzitzikostas coy on ND vote but aides back Meimarakis
Several officials close to Central Macedonia Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas, a candidate in the first round of New Democracy’s leadership race, appear ready to support Evangelos Meimarakis ahead of Sunday’s runoff ballot.
Meimarakis will vie for the conservative leadership with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and although Tzitzikostas was careful not to back either candidate when making a televised statement Tuesday some of his key supporters indicated they will vote for Meimarakis.
The head of New Democracy’s Thessaloniki committee, Minas Samantzidis, said that he would be backing Meimarakis on Sunday. Most ND officials in northern Greece have suggested that they will also support the veteran conservative, who led the party between July and November.
Furthermore, several other New Democracy MPs and officials who were actively involved in Tzitzikostas’s campaign have come out in favor of Meimarakis, who was in Thessaloniki on Tuesday but insisted that he has not had any discussion about whether the governor will support his candidacy.
