Greece's main opposition New Democracy party was triumphant after the second round of local and regional elections concluded on Sunday
ADVERTISEMENTGreece's main opposition New Democracy party was triumphant after the second run-off round of local and regional elections concluded, winning 11 out of 13 regions and many municipalities around the country.
New Democracy won the regions of Attica, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Western Greece, the Ionian Islands, the Peloponnese and mainland Greece, while in the prefecture of the Northern Aegean, the new regional governor, Constantinos Moutzouris, comes from New Democracy but ran as an independent without party support.
In the race to become Mayor of Athens, New Democracy's Kostas Bakoyannis, who is the son of former Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis and the nephew of ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, had a convincing win over Syriza candidate Nasos Iliopoulos, gaining 65.2% of the vote against 34.7% for Iliopoulos.
"Because they say that the Mayor is the first citizen, I will be the last citizen and each and every Athenian will be the first citizen," said newly-elected Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis.
In the Attica prefecture, Giorgos Patoulis also had a dominant win, beating Syriza candidate and outgoing Attica Regional Governor Rena Dourou, with 65.8% of the vote for Patoulis against 34.2% for Dourou.
"We deserve better and we will make things better, and we will progress in the future. I promise you that we will work with a plan and hard work, without losing a single day because Attica does not have any more time to waste," said newly elected Attica Regional Governor Giorgos Patoulis.
In the race to become Mayor of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Konstantinos Zervas, who only just scraped into the second run-off vote, triumphed over his opponent Nikos Tachiaos, winning by a 66.8% to 33.2% margin.
"Above all, in these elections, the city had to win. And the city won today. From tomorrow our minds and our energy will be focused in one direction, to make life better for everyone," said Konstantinos Zervas, the newly-elected Mayor of Thessaloniki.
"New Democracy has confirmed its dynamism in the second round of regional and local elections after its decisive victory in last Sunday's European elections. Apart from winning the Mayor of Athens, which the main opposition party won for the first time after 9 years, its (ND) candidates were victorious in many municipalities and regions across the country," said Euronews' correspondent in Athens.