Athens mayoral rivals cross swords in debate

The incumbent Athens mayor Kostas Bakoyannis and Haris Doukas took part in a televised debate on Wednesday night ahead of Sunday’s runoff.

Neither achieved the required threshold percentage of 43% in the first round last Sunday. Bakoyannis, endorsed by the ruling New Democracy party, came first with 41.35%, ahead of PASOK-backed Doukas’ 14.19%.

Bakoyannis said progress has been made in cleaning up the city but more needs to be done. “Athens is cleaner than ever before. Is it clean? No. But we have made progress,” he said, while also referring to the issue of security. “Yes to cameras; we can’t have a police officer in every neighborhood. I am glad because we agreed with the minister to place cameras in 750 places throughout the city,” he said, while also stressing the significance of neighborhood police.

“Additional forces are needed. And it requires cooperation between the Municipality of Athens and the Hellenic Police, which we started in 2019. And, of course, prevention,” he said.

For his part, Doukas outlined his proposals for more greenery, playgrounds and parking spaces in Athens. “Five thousand trees per year [will be planted], 25,000 in five years,” Doukas pledged. He also stressed that he would use “every inch of land,” while proposing that parking should be placed around the perimeter of the city, as it is a “car magnet.”