FINAL ELECTION RESULTS (23 Oct 2006)

The second round of the municipal elections, held on Sunday, ended in victory for Theodoros Koukoulis, with 1,411 votes (53% of the total) as against 1,229 votes (47%) for Panayotis Protopsaltis. The turnout was about 8% down from last Sunday.

In the intervening week, mayor Artemios Kalligeros had conceded defeat, releasing his supporters to vote any way they wanted. Most of the rest of his slate, including Manolis Lourandos (‘Pierros’) and chairman of the municipal council Giorgos Gatsios strongly endorsed Protopsaltis, with the sole exception of Giorgos Leontsinis who had shifted his allegiance to the winning Koukoulis slate as early as last Monday. Protopsaltis’ share of the vote increased by almost 300, but this proved insufficient to overcome the lead held by Koukoulis, who picked up another 200 votes in this round.

The final makeup of the 13-member municipal council is still unclear, but should be formalised in the next day or so.

John Stathatos