Mitsotakis expects at least 300,000 votes in ND ballot

New Democracy leadership candidate Kyriakos Mitsotakis expects at least 300,000 people to vote in the conservative party’s ballot for president on November 22. “Anything less will be a failure for New Democracy,” he told Skai TV.

In New Democracy’s last leadership ballot, in 2009, more than 780,000 ballots were cast. The former administrative reform minister also said that he had been disappointed by the failure of the four candidates to hold a debate ahead of the vote.

“I am not very satisfied with the fact that we have not yet managed to agree on an acceptable structure for a public debate,” said Mitsotakis, who suggested that current New Democracy leader Evangelos Meimarakis is the only one of the four hopefuls now standing in the way of the debate.

“The fact that Mr Meimarakis is the party president does not mean he’s not also a candidate for the presidency,” said the MP. “We have not heard what Mr Meimarakis’s positions are as a candidate. Even though I remain the party’s parliamentary spokesman, I am actively involved in the public discussion about New Democracy’s future.”