Former prime minister Karamanlis calls it a day

Former prime minister Kostas Karamanlis, 66, announced Tuesday that he won’t run in the next elections.

“I have decided that the time has come to complete my parliamentary journey. Therefore, I will not stand as a candidate in the next elections,” he said in a statement, noting that, “obviously, I always support the government of New Democracy, the party founded by Konstantinos Karamanlis, and which I have served uninterruptedly for almost half a century.”

The conservative politician served as the 10th prime minister of Greece from 2004 to 2009. He was also president of the ruling center-right New Democracy party, founded by his uncle Konstantinos Karamanlis, from 1997 to 2009, and has since served as a member of the Hellenic Parliament.

He spoke to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday, saying, “I leave now with the party strong… and I’m sure we will win the elections.”