STORY: Final official results show Greek conservatives win local elections
DATELINE: Oct. 18, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:12
LOCATION: Athens
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the 2nd round of the local government elections in Greece
2. various of Haris Doukas, Mayoral candidate who won 2nd round of the local government elections in Athens
3. various of Kostas Bakoyannis, Mayor of Athens
4. various of the 2nd round of the local government elections in Greece
5. SOUNDBITE (Greek): KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister

STORYLINE:

Greece's ruling conservative New Democracy (ND) party won local elections on Sunday, according to final official results released by the Interior Ministry on Monday.

Greeks went to the polls on Oct. 8 and Oct. 15 to elect their representatives in 13 regions and 332 municipalities across the country for the next five years.

Voting was repeated in regions and municipalities where no single party candidate - or coalition of candidates - managed to surpass the required 43 percent threshold of votes in the first round.

ND-backed candidates won in eight regions and many municipalities, according to official figures. However, ND's candidates lost in races of high symbolic value, such as in Athens and in Thessaloniki.

In the most watched race, outgoing Mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis was defeated by Haris Doukas, who was backed by the Socialist PASOK-KINAL alliance, and also received in the second round the support of the main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance.

Doukas secured 55.96 percent of the vote against 44.04 percent for Bakoyannis, with 100 percent of the vote counted, according to the ministry.

About half of voters participated in the first round of the regional and municipal elections nationwide and fewer than four in 10 in the second round, according to the ministry.

The local elections were considered a political test both for the ND and the opposition parties.

The results of the first round were more positive for the conservatives, as they won in seven regions, but the second round's outcome did not put a smile on the face of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday evening.

SOUNDBITE (Greek): KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister
"Tonight was not a good evening for ND. We will have a constructive cooperation with all newly elected mayors and regional governors."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Athens.
(XHTV)