Voters reject celebrities, old guard

A large number of veteran politicians, former ministers and celebrities from the arts, sports and journalistic fields failed at the final hurdle on Sunday as voters turned their backs on them.

Among the many veterans left out were PASOK’s Andreas Loverdos, a former party leader candidate. He lost his seat in the Northern Sector of Athens, as did scores of SYRIZA frontliners in the same constituency. These include Panos Skourletis, Anneta Kavvadia, Giorgos Balafas and Eleni Avlonitou.

Another PASOK veteran and former socialist minister, Kostas Skandalidis, lost his seat in the A Athens constituency, while New Democracy’s Ioannis Tragakis, who came fourth in Piraeus where his party elected three deputies, also failed to get elected.

Former PASOK minister and deputy Stefanos Tzoumakas, who had moved to SYRIZA, came 11th in the South Sector of Athens, where SYRIZA won four seats.

Panagiotis Kouroumblis who was also with PASOK in the 90s before moving to SYRIZA, was also left out, losing in the Western Sector of Athens.

But celebrities also suffered a powerful backlash, including, among others, the 2004 European soccer champion Giourkas Seitaridis, who ran as a candidate with New Democracy in the Ioannina region, but finished last.

Noni Dounia, a former competitive swimmer turned model/actress, and also a New Democracy candidate in the Piraeus and Islands constituency, failed to get re-elected.

The well-known actor Stavros Nikolaidis also slumped in the Southern Sector of Athens, where he was a candidate with New Democracy. Apart from rapper Mithridatis, the actor Marios Athanasiou, who was running in the Northern Sector of Athens, was not elected from the SYRIZA ballot, either. 

A similar fate befell the actresses Lila Kafantari and Eleni Gerasimidou, as well as their male colleague Pavlos Orkopoulos and the musician Vangelis Serifis, aka DJ Rico.

All were running on the KKE ticket.