Nikos Pappas

Greece's leftist main opposition is holding its standing congress to approve the candidates running for party leadership at the Foundation of the Hellenic World on Saturday.

The congess' agenda includes only that topic, and its proceedings will open at 11 a.m.

SYRIZA has endorsed Costas Zachariadis as its candidate for Athens mayor in the upcoming local government elections on October 8, the party's Political Secretariat said on Thursday.

The decision was between Zachariadis and Nikos Filis, the former minister of education, after the secretariat decided not to back former basketball player Nikos Pappas.

Main opposition party SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance on Monday officially announced the launch of the campaign for the election of a new party leader, scheduled to be held on September 10.

Two main pre-electoral mottos are "On September 10, I participate" and "Tomorrow begins with us", it was noted in the party announcement.

One of the chief investigative magistrates in the trial against the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn organization, Ioanna Klapa, has been appointed as the new president of Greece's Supreme Court.

Klapa became a judge in 1984 and joined the country's highest criminal court in August 2020 after distinguishing herself in the widely publicized trial.

Efi Achtsioglou, the former social security minister and considered the front-runner in the race to succeed Alexis Tsipras as SYRIZA leader, has proposed that not only party members but also party supporters should be allowed to participate in the September 10 ballot.

The contest for a new leader of the left-wing SYRIZA party has already produced realignments among the party's several factions and they are probably not over yet.

Nikos Pappas, who served as the minister of digital policy, telecommunications, and media from November 2016 to July 2019, on Saturday announced his candidacy for the leadership of the leftist SYRIZA party.

The leadership developments in the SYRIZA party are coming to a head on Saturday, when the meeting of the Central Committee will take place.

The party is beset by division and it is still reeling in the wake of two devastating defeats in a row - Mitsotakis' New Democracy party defeated SYRIZA 40.56% to 17.83% on June 25, the party.

The first contender for the SYRIZA leadership election is expected to throw her hat into the ring on Wednesday, sources have said.

Associates said that Efi Achtsioglou, who served as minister for Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity from 2016 to 2019, would declare her candidacy at noon at the Athens Conservatoire.

There was a plan by the SYRIZA-led government to acquire and control media, according to the multi-page reasoning of the Special Court, published on Monday, that led to the conviction of ex-minister Nikos Pappas to two years in prison over his handling of a 2016 TV license tender.