ND releases candidates’ list, sans current incumbents; average age 44, 42% women

Ruling New Democracy (ND) party on Thursday announced 269 candidates for the upcoming May 21 election, excluding its current incumbents serving in Parliament.

Of the 269, roughly half have never vied for a deputy’s seat.

The number of women in this sample of candidates is 42 percent, while the average age on ND’s ballots – based on the first list – is 44 years old.

Among the candidates is current Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, who will stand in Athens’ first district. The latter currently holds a ministerial portfolio but is not an elected deputy.

The second tranche of candidates will be current MPs serving in Parliament, on which the name of former prime minister Costas Karamanlis will be missing. The latter said he will not stand as a candidate in the upcoming election. Karamanlis, the nephew and namesake of Greek statesman Constantine Karamanlis, has been elected for decades to Parliament from Thessaloniki’s first election district.