Media-stung Pappas won’t run for mayor
Nobody had actually asked her to run for mayor of Athens in this autumn’s elections. But yesterday veteran actress Irene Pappas, a rumored potential PASOK candidate, issued a statement saying she would not anyway, due to harsh media reactions. «I have no martial arts training,» the 77-year-old actress, who has acted in films such as «Zorba the Greek,» «The Guns of Navarone» and «Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,» said in a statement. «I lack shield or sword… I do not want to divide our people into factions.» Pappas, who, a few days ago, had expressed pleasure at rumors that she would head the ruling Socialists’ Athens ticket during the October municipal elections, said she had been «warned off in time» by the behavior of certain media. «The business of my potential candidacy ended before it could begin,» she said. PASOK’s most famous actress-politician, Melina Mercouri, unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Athens in 1990. She was Culture Minister for more than eight years.
