Kaminis officially announces candidacy for new center-left party
Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis has officially announced his candidacy for Greece’s a new center-left political party that aspires to establish itself between SYRIZA and New Democracy.
“The country needs a radical change of political orientation that only a big progressive democratic party can guarantee,” Kaminis told a press conference in Athens on Monday.
Kaminis, who did not say whether he intends to step down as mayor ahead of October’s leadership race, vowed to steer the new party clear of cheap populism on the left and reactionary conservatism on the right.
He said that unity in the fragmented political space between SYRIZA and ND was the key to success, while stressing that the new party must not be reduced to a supporting role for any of the mainstream rivals.
“I have already represented [the center left] in two elections in the past, each time against a different opponent. We won because we were united,” he said. “[We shall] not become a secondary actor in other people’s plans,” he said.
