2023 Athens municipal election
The 2023 Athens Municipal election was held on 8 October and 15 October 2023 to elect the mayor of Athens as a part of the 2023 Greek Local elections. The first round was inconclusive, and a second round run-off took place a week later, between the two candidates having the most votes, the incumbent Kostas Bakoyannis from conservative New Democracy party and Haris Doukas from social democratic PASOK party.
In the second round, PASOK candidate Haris Doukas defeated the incumbent Kostas Bakoyiannis. This victory was achieved with the unified backing of Syriza, Volt, the Pirate Party, and other green parties. As a result, Doukas secured an absolute 3/5 majority in the municipal council under the new electoral law.
Background
Previous Election
In the previous election incumbent PASOK list, with its former candidate not running, was defeated by challenger Bakoyannis winning 21 out of the 49 seats, with Syriza candidate Nasos Iliopoulos coming second being defeated in the second round with ND candidate being ahead with an over 40 point margin, yet this being with the previous electoral law Bakoyannis failed to achieve a full majority in the council. Other smaller candidates also picked up seats, such as Pavlos Geroulanos of PASOK, managing to elect eight seats, Golden Dawn candidate and former spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris electing five, and communist KKE candidate Nikos Sofianos electing four, other more minor lists took up one or fewer seats each.Source:
2021 electoral system
The New Democracy government enacted "Law 4804/2021," which replaced the previous law on local elections. According to the new law, in all municipal elections in Greece, the system used is one of 2-round proportional representation with reinforced proportinality. Specifically, "the distribution of municipal or regional council seats between the successful and runner-up list is done by a system of reinforced proportionality so that the successful combination holds at least 3/5 of the council seats." Also, it also provided the requirements for a list to enter the council, " in order for a list to be entitled to at least one seat on the municipal or district council, it must receive at least 3% of the valid ballots in the first round of elections. The combination that received at least 43% of the valid ballots plus one vote in the first round is declared successful, and its head is elected mayor or regional governor." The law faced backlash with parties on the threshold, including the parties conjoined in Antarsya, Socialist Workers' Party, Revolutionary Communist Movement of Greece calling the law undemocratic and that ND was attempting to reinforce their own position by removing simple proportionality.Candidates
Athens NOW (Athina TORA)
Athens NOW was a municipal list formed in August 2023 based on an environmentalist, anti-tourist ideology with its candidate being PASOK member Haris Doukas.Specifically, Doukas' 5-year goals were to plant 25,000 trees throughout Athens, reduce the temperature in the summer months, reduce noise pollution, and improve the air quality of Athens by 25%. The Athens NOW list surpassed Syriza's candidate and entered the second round, whereby securing the support of Syriza, as well as the support from PASOK, Volt Greece, Pirate Party, and other small Green parties. Doukas, with unified support, defeated incumbent ND affiliate Kostas Bakoyannis and elected 26 councilors.
Athens High Up (Athina Psila)
Athens High Up was the incumbent list endorsed by the governing party New Democracy with its candidate being incumbent mayor Kostas Bakoyannis. The list of Athens High Up was defeated by the challenger, Doukas, with a 10-point difference.Open City (Anoihti Poli)
Open City was the list endorsed by the then main opposition party Syriza, its candidate being Kostas Zachariadis who was chosen through a slim margin 17–15 in the political secretary, with other options being basketballer Nikos Pappas. Zachariadis was eliminated in the first round of voting, receiving approximately 13% of the vote. In the second round, Zachariadis endorsed Doukas and his list.Popular Athenian Coalition (Laiki Syspeirosi Athinas)
Popular Athenian Coalition was the list endorsed by the Communist Party of Greece with their candidate Nikolaos Sofianos. The list saw a rise parallel to the one that their party saw in the May and June 2023 parliamentary elections.Free Athenians (Eleftheroi Athineoi)
Free Athenians was the list endorsed by National Party – Greeks and the Spartiates party, and used to be endorsed by the now illegal Golden Dawn party. It was led by Ilias Kasidiaris, a convicted felon. The list managed to elect two councilors, including Kasidiaris.Subversive Alliance for Athens (Anatreptiki Symmahia gia tin Athina)
Subversive alliance for Athens was a list of a coalition of Far-Left Groups that united when ND enacted a new election law that made it mandatory for a list to reach at least 3% to elect a councilor. Uniting behind the lawyer of the Golden Dawn trials Kostas Papadakis, the group was backed by Antarsya and MeRA25. The group reached 6% in the election, electing Kostas Papadakis as its Councilor.Our Athens (I Athina Mas)
Our Athens was the only independent list in the elections with their candidate being Eleni Papadopoulou, the list's beliefs tend to be in line with more right-wing thought with their candidate criticizing pride parades and illegal immigration. The list elected its candidate as councilor with almost 4% of the vote.Results
Members Elected
Source:Community Results
All seven Municipal Communities were won by Kostas Bakoyannis in the first round. However, Haris Doukas won a 3/5 majority due to his victory in the second round, with all other lists getting either one or no seats in every Community Council, based on the new electoral law in all individual councils.Seventh Municipal Community
Source:Note: The results of the second round are not stated for each Community, but they are stated for every polling place. This may be because the seats are distributed independently of how the community voted in the second round and distributed according to the results of the first round and the overall victor of the second round.