Fourth Candidate Officially in the Race for New Democracy's Presidency

After an appeal and various expressions of dissatisfaction, New Democracy’s Central Election Committee decided to reverse its initial decision and chose to allow Adonis Georgiadis to run for the party’s presidency in the upcoming elections.
The committee had deemed Georgiadis’ application invalid as the New Democracy MP submitted his paperwork eight minutes after Friday’s 6 p.m. deadline. His delay was due to his search for the required 50 signatures of members of party’s Political Committee. Georgiadis’ official appeal proved fruitful and on Saturday morning he became the last member added to the elections candidate’s list.
Georgiadis, who has previously served as Greek Health Minister, will face off against former Administrative Reform Minister Kiriakos Mitsotakis, interim New Democracy President and former National Defense Evangelos Meimarakis and current Governor of the Central Macedonia region Apostolos Tzitzikostas.
The initial decision to reject his candidacy application produced backlash from the other three candidates.
Meimarakis reportedly stated his disagreement during the Central Election Committee’s meeting on Friday. He further addressed the matter during a speech on Saturday, in which he noted that the initial move to bar Georgiadis was wrong and that the other candidates stand behind him.
Mitsotakis expressed his disapproval via his official twitter account on Friday
“I do not agree with the rejection of Georgiadis’ candidacy… Extreme adherence to the book by the Central Election Committee,” he wrote.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas echoed Mitsotakis’ sentiment also through his twitter account.
“I disagree with the disqualification of Adonis Georgiadis. He should be allowed to be a candidate provided that he has the required number of signatures,” Titzikostas noted.
Georgiadis’ exclusion was also criticized by former Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who called it a wrong decision that will hopefully be reversed.
The official date of the elections has not been announced as of yet.

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