Political reset after local elections
Ruling ND confirms dominance, PASOK, KKE make gains, as SYRIZA continues slide
The local and regional election results recorded on Sunday in 13 regions in the country where ruling center-right New Democracy (ND), main opposition leftist SYRIZA, center-left PASOK, and communist KKE had formally backed candidates have yielded useful political conclusions for the four main parties.
Although a comparison with recent national election results may not allow for safe conclusions, as municipal elections are a different beast, it does capture a general picture of societal trends and how relationships are forming on the main political stage after a difficult summer.
The outcomes of the elections in seven regions were decided this Sunday, while six regions are heading to a runoff vote.
What is clear is that four months after national elections, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ ruling ND confirmed its dominance as it won seven regions in the first round, while the candidates backed by the conservatives came first in four of the remaining six.
After a troubled summer, the result resets the counter as the ruling party appears to have received a vote of confidence from local communities. This was emphasized by Mitsotakis in his statements on the night of the elections, noting that in many regions, such as Western Greece and Epirus, “the regional governors scored much higher than the party percentages of the New Democracy.”
As for SYRIZA’s expectations that it would receive a bump in popularity after the recent election of its new leader Stefanos Kasselakis, these were not only not confirmed, but instead the leftist party record significant losses.
On the contrary there was a sense of satisfaction in PASOK, with officials estimating that after the runoff more than 100 mayors will have been elected who either have party origins from PASOK, or are currently PASOK executives.
There is also a particular sense of achievement that it will contest the second round in the two largest municipalities of the country, Athens and Thessaloniki, while they are the only party from the opposition that has a candidate for regional governor in the second round.
Undoubtedly, KKE was among the winners as it seems to have benefited on the one hand from the fall of SYRIZA, receiving an extra “leftist vote,” and on the other hand it also benefited from the fact that the participation fluctuated at low levels, as it has a particularly solid electoral audience, which always participates in the elections.
