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Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-09-09
CONTENTS
[01] Former national intelligence chief to head LAOS state deputy
ticket
[01] Former national intelligence chief to head LAOS state deputy
ticket
The former commander of Greece's National Intelligence Service EYP,
Ambassador Ioannis Korantis, has joined the right-wing Popular Orthodox
Rally (LAOS) party and will head its list of candidates for the state
MP seats in Parliament duirng the upcoming elections. This was
announced by LAOS leader George Karatzaferis after a meeting with
Korantis on Wednesday.
Karatzaferis warmly praised Ambassador Korantis' record in the Greek
diplomatic corps and "the excellent services he offered the country in
the five years that he was in command of EYP."
Korantis said that he had accepted the invitation extended by LAOS's
leader to join the party, bringing with him 36 years experience as a
career diplomat and former EYP commander and the aim to "serve the
common values that we uphold for the country."
In Greece's election system, a certain number of seats in Parliament -
the deputies of state - are not directly elected by voters but arise
from a list of candidates chosen by the parties, who are elected to
Parliament on the basis of the percentage each party receives in the
elections nationwide. A position on the state deputy list, especially
the top slot that is most likely to guarantee a seat in Parliament, is
considered an honor and is often reserved for academics and other
personalities that are not career politicians.
During the 2007 general elections and with 3.8 percent of the
nationwide vote, LAOS failed to elect a state deputy to Parliament but
its support among the electorate appears considerably strengthened in
opinion polls and during the recent EuroParliament polls, where it
forged ahead of left-wing SYRIZA to get 7.14 percent of the vote, up
from 4.12 percent in the Euro polls of 2004.
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