The Monday-evening meeting of the New Democracy’s election committee has highlighted the tension and disagreements amongst the four candidates for the party leadership. A central party officer told To Vima that “we are as closed to an agreement as we are to a rift, nothing can be ruled out”.
While there are some disagreements over the fee voters will be asked to pay in the upcoming election, the main problem and point of friction between the four candidates appears to be the election process itself, with some fearing that the results may tampered. Without an agreement on electoral roll, there are fears that “passers-by” may affect the outcome of the election.
Suspicion runs very high among the candidates, with To Vima being informed that discussions are taking place within regarding some candidates considering dropping out from the race, on account of the “highly problematic” election process.
Should the four candidates be unable to come to an agreement on the election terms, then it is possible that an emergency party conference may be called, in order to decide upon the procedures. This also occurred in 2009, when the candidates were similarly unable to reach an agreement.
Of the four candidates, Evangelos Meimarakis is against carrying out the elections as in 2009, citing the high cost and possibility of tampering. The other three – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Adonis Georgiadis and Apostolos Tzitzikostas – want to follow the same process as 2009, with a 2-euro fee for all voters.
New Democracy secretary Andreas Papamimikos has proposed a compromise solution on the number of ballot boxes and setting the voting fee to two euros for everyone. Mr. Papamimikos has called the candidates to reach an agreement, in order to promote unity within the party. The party’s election committee is scheduled to continue talks on Tuesday.
