2015–16 New Democracy leadership election

The 2015–16 New Democracy leadership election refers to the two-round election to determine the next president of New Democracy, after the resignation of Antonis Samaras on 5 July 2015. The first round was held on 20 December 2015 and the second round was held on 10 January 2016. Kyriakos Mitsotakis was elected as the new president.[1]

ND leadership election, 2015–16
20 December 2015–
10 January 2016
 
Candidate Kyriakos Mitsotakis Vangelis Meimarakis
Party ND ND
Popular vote 115,162 (1st round)
173,297 (2nd round)		 160,823 (1st round)
157,224 (2nd round)
Percentage 28.5% (1st round)
52.4% (2nd round)		 39.8% (1st round)
47.6% (2nd round)
President of ND before election

Ioannis Plakiotakis (acting)

 Elected President of ND

Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Procedure

Whilst the election had originally been expected to be held on 30 August 2015,[2] 57 MPs called for interim leader Vangelis Meimarakis to stay on until spring 2016, postponing the leadership election.[3][4] However, following ND's election loss in the early September 2015 elections, leadership elections were planned to be held before year's end.[5]

The central electoral committee of the party met on 24 September at the request of interim leader Vangelis Meimarakis, to begin the electoral process. They set out a timetable as follows:[6]

  • 1 October - end of candidate registration period
  • 4 October - end of objection period
  • 5 October - final approved list of candidates

Technical issues

On 21 November, when testing the electronic voting system, the Central Electoral Committee found a number of issues, which meant that the election could not start at the scheduled time of 07:00 on 22 November. Furthermore, another issue arose on the evening of the 22 that caused the Central Electoral Committee to replace 50 electoral delegates. They then took a unanimous decision to postpone the election.[7][8]

Mitsotakis issued a statement saying: "We owe a big apology to all the New Democracy supporters, and also to all Greek citizens. Unfortunately the election process can no longer take place today. This is no time to be seeking who is responsible. The time for that will come later." Meimarakis threatened to withdraw his candidacy if the election was not postponed, and Georgiadis called the failure a "fiasco" and asked for the resignation of all the members of the Central Electoral Committee.[7]

Both Mitsotakis and Tzitzikostas called for Meimarakis to step down as interim leader and appoint a new interim leader.[8] On 24 November, Meimarakis appointed Ioannis Plakiotakis, the secretary of the parliamentary group, as a Vice President of New Democracy.[9] Later that day, Meimarakis resigned as the interim President, appointing Plakiotakis as the new interim President.[10]

Candidates
CandidateImageConstituencyOfficeSource
Adonis GeorgiadisAthens BMinister of Health
(2013–2014)		[11]
Vangelis MeimarakisAthens BSpeaker of the Hellenic Parliament
(2012-2015)		[11]
Kyriakos MitsotakisAthens BMinister of Administrative Reform and e-Governance
(2013–2015)		[11]
Apostolos TzitzikostasNoneRegional Governor of Central Macedonia
(2013–present)		[11]

Declined
  • Dimitris Avramopoulos, Vice President of New Democracy, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, former Minister for National Defence, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, former Minister of Health and Social Security, former Minister of Tourism, former Mayor of Athens[12]
  • Dora Bakoyannis, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, former Mayor of Athens, former Minister of Culture[12]
  • Nikos Dendias, former Minister for National Defence, former Minister of Development and Competitiveness, former Minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection, former Minister of Justice[12]
  • Kostas Karamanlis, former Prime Minister of Greece, former President of New Democracy, former Minister of Culture, former Leader of the Opposition[12]
  • Olga Kefalogianni, former Minister of Tourism[5]
  • Vassilis Kikilias, former Minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection[5]
  • Makis Voridis, former Minister of Health, former Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks[5]

Results

The results of the election.[13][14] In the first round only the valid votes were announced.

Candidate First election
20 December 2015		 Second election
10 January 2016
Votes % Votes %
Kyriakos Mitsotakis 115,162 28.50 173,297 52.43
Vangelis Meimarakis 160,823 39.80 157,224 47.57
Apostolos Tzitzikostas 82,028 20.30
Adonis Georgiadis 46,065 11.40
Total 404,078 100.00 330,521 100.00
Valid votes 404,078 — 330,521 98.74
Invalid ballots — — 3,077 0.92
Blank ballots — — 1,154 0.34
Votes cast / turnout — — 334,752 100.00

References
  1. "Kyriakos Mitsotakis elected as leader of Greek centre-right party". the Guardian and Reuters in Athens. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  2. "Meimarakis set to propose election of new ND chief". Kathimerini. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  3. "Παραμένει έως την άνοιξη ο κ. Μεϊμαράκης". Kathimerini (in Greek). 24 July 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  4. Papathanasiou, Katerina (23 July 2015). "Meimarakis Remains New Democracy Leader". Greek Reporter. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  5. "New Democracy set for leadership contest soon". Kathimerini. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  6. "New Democracy leadership contest begins". The Economist Intelligence Unit. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  7. "'Technical hitch' postpones New Democracy leadership election". Apokoronas News. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  8. Stamouli, Nektaria (22 November 2015). "Greek Opposition Party Cancels Leadership Election at Last Minute". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  9. "Meimarakis appoints Plakiotakis New Democracy vice-president". Gazzetta. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  10. Petrou, Zacharias (25 November 2015). "V. Meimarakis resigns as interim New Democracy leader". Independent Balkan News Agency. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  11. "New Democracy presidential candidates clash over party election date". To Vima. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  12. Adamopoulos, Anastassios (6 July 2015). "Who Will Be New Democracy's Next Leader?". Greek Reporter. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  13. "Δήλωση του Προεδρεύοντος της ΚΕΦΕ της ΝΔ κ. Ιωάννη Τραγάκη για τα τελικά αποτελέσματα των εκλογών για την ανάδειξη του Προέδρου του Κόμματος" (in Greek). New Democracy. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  14. "Δήλωση του Προεδρεύοντος της ΚΕΦΕ της Νέας Δημοκρατίας κ. Ιωάννη Τραγάκη" (in Greek). New Democracy. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
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