Coalition buffeted but still standing after local polls

Rena Dourou, SYRIZA’s candidate for Attica governor, waves to supporters outside her party’s campaign kiosk, in central Athens. Dourou made a surprise performance, grabbing first place in the first round of the regional vote yesterday.

The first round of Greece’s local elections produced a mixed result that allowed both the country’s governing parties, New Democracy and PASOK, as well as the main opposition, SYRIZA, to claim that they had performed well ahead of the second round on Sunday, when European Parliament elections will also be held.

SYRIZA produced surprises in the Municipality of Athens and the Region of Attica, where its candidates performed better than had been expected. Rena Dourou, the former SYRIZA MP, was projected to take first place in the contest for the Attica governorship, pushing the far more experienced Yiannis Sgouros, who was backed by PASOK and Democratic Left (DIMAR), into second place.

With around 20 percent of the votes counted, an Interior Ministry projection for the final result gave Dourou 23.2 percent and Sgouros 22. An early exit poll, when polling centers closed at 7 p.m., gave Dourou a much bigger lead, suggesting that it would turn into a memorable night for SYRIZA.

Nevertheless, Dourou’s expected win was a significant achievement. She still faces a challenge to overcome Sgouros in Sunday’s run-off vote.

“The best goals are scored in the second round,” said SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras as he left the party’s headquarters.

The leftists also toasted the achievement of Gavriil Sakellaridis, a virtual unknown outside the party before he became its candidate for the City of Athens. Interior Ministry projections showed that Sakellaridis would be narrowly pipped into second place by incumbent...