FOR SOMEONE TO WIN THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
After the end of the national elections, which were held in two installments, the self-governing elections are rapidly taking their turn, since the submission of ballots must take place at the end of August.
So it is easy to understand that only those who have already worked on their factions have hopes of presenting ballots that are capable of first reaching the second round and then winning the elections.
But how much of a role do party supports play in municipal elections?
This is a question that has been on the minds of many lately, especially after the results of the elections already in May, since the N.D. has managed to be the only party at the moment that is in the government orbit, as SYRIZA and PASOK that follow do not have such percentages that can classify them in this category.
Of course, the answer cannot be one-dimensional as it depends on many factors which are different in each region.
What happened in the past
As far as the municipality of Ioannito is concerned, however, there are some data that can help us draw some useful conclusions.
We start from the fact that while SYRIZA in the last 10 years managed to become a party of power, it never managed to “ground” itself with the self-government and that is why its factions in the municipality of Ioannito got percentages of… Coalition.
Many say that the dominance of a party in the national elections automatically means the primacy of the factions it will support in the municipality of Ioannito.
However, something like this did not happen in Ioannina in 2019, when the N.D. won the national elections but Kalogiannis’ candidacy, which was officially supported by the ND, did not even enter the second round.
Accordingly, in 2015, the candidacy of Bega with SYRIZA in its “dozens” and the N.D. low for the same percentage, it also took the contribution of the “right-wing” P. Kolokas, no matter how small or large it was, to win in the second round the official nomination of the ND, Niko Gonda.
the “right”
Today we are facing a “battle” between three potential mayoral candidates with a “right-wing” influence. They are Nikos Gondas, Tatiana Kalogianni and Pantelis Kolokas. The debate that exists in the blue part of the municipality is whether Mitsotakis will choose to attempt to unite these three in one faction in order to have a better chance of winning the elections.
A possibility which, however, currently does not gather many possibilities.
They even want information from the local N.D. to have already “advised” the headquarters not to deal with the project as an intervention from Athens could make things worse.
So whether it is possible to make such an agreement is the million euro question.
At the moment it seems difficult, because both Ms. Kalogiannis and Mr. Kolokas have already exposed people they have officially presented as candidates, while it seems unlikely that Ms. Kalogiannis will line up behind another candidacy.
Information wants such an impact to have been made to them with the leader of the faction “Ioannina_2023” clearly stating that she will download her own combination.
On the other hand, Mr. Kolokas has a troubled past, since in the 2015 elections, when he had tried to create his own faction, he failed and joined that of Thomas Bega in order to defeat Nikos Gonda.
The latter even considered Mr. Kolokas responsible for his defeat, with their relations being strained for quite some time.
Today, however, it seems that they have normalized and it is not excluded that, if there is some combination of forces, it will be between the two.
The center left
On the center-left front, we should not be fooled by the fact that SYRIZA and PASOK received a percentage of less than 30% nationally.
In Ioannina, N.D. got 39% and SYRIZA with PASOK 36%.
In other words, very close percentages for anyone to consider that the N.D. can take a walk in the municipality of Ioannito.
If the faction of the current mayor, Dimitris Papageorgiou, succeeds and creates a good ballot, given that Thomas Begas will certainly have one at his disposal, since the “Unity of Citizens of Nea Ioannina” is the largest faction that exists in the municipal council with strong structures and relationships in Ioannina society, then the game will be open.
Faces play an important factor in municipal elections. Candidates lined up behind a faction may come from different political origins and add strength to their leaders from areas in which they themselves do not move politically.
This is another parameter that should not be overlooked easily when we hear scenarios for easy candidates to prevail.
Let’s be patient, let’s see the ballots of all parties and then we will be able to judge better.
ALEXANDROS THEMELIS
