KEDE Congress: Disputes erupt over voting integrity in Kalamata

Tensions flared during the annual congress of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) in Kalamata, as Haris Doukas, the Mayor of Athens, challenged the integrity of the voting process. Doukas alleged irregularities and requested a roll-call vote to ensure transparency, a request that was denied by the union leadership.

The voting resulted in a victory for the faction of KEDE President Lazaros Kyrizoglou, whose “Modern Strong Municipalities” group secured 63% of the vote with 213 out of 338 votes. Doukas’s “Local Government Now” faction received 111 votes, while Kostas Peletidis’s “Popular Solidarity” received 14.

Following the vote, PASOK issued a statement condemning the KEDE presidency for failing to ensure an impartial voting process and criticizing attacks on Doukas. Doukas described the voting as a “fiasco” and accused the leadership of attempting to pass a resolution that served as an endorsement of government policies. In response, Kyrizoglou characterized the opposition as a “political defeat.”