Mayor keeps Athens suitors at his door
Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos, whose second four-year term ends in October, met yesterday at City Hall with Dora Bakoyianni, the New Democracy party candidate for the capital. Although Avramopoulos sprang from the ranks of the same party and claims to have been a friend of Bakoyianni’s for 20 years, he did not endorse her bid, indicating that he would see which of the two main candidates would praise his achievements in office the most. Avramopoulos, who has won warm comments from PASOK candidate Christos Papoutsis and yesterday also from Bakoyianni, said he would give his backing in September. Otherwise, he said, his achievements would risk being attacked by one of the two parties. Avramopoulos, who has founded the Movement of Free Citizens, told journalists that «one day» he «will govern this country.» It is pointless, of course, to comment on the fantasies nourished by several conservative circles – both within and outside ND – who wish to play the role of a local Le Pen.
