ND, SYRIZA announce state list candidates

In an apparent bid to broaden their appeal, conservative New Democracy and main leftist opposition SYRIZA have both largely opted for candidates from outside the party fold for their state lists ahead of the elections.

Candidates on the list do not compete for votes in the polls but are elected based on the share of the vote the party receives.

Athens University rector Theodoros Fortsakis, a strong advocate of the government?s tertiary education reforms, will be leading the conservatives? list of candidates, which will also include lawyer Niki Kerameus. The 34-year-old Harvard University graduate is a founding member of the Desmos charity which provides surplus goods and services to people in need.

Kerameus will occupy the third place on the list, behind State Minister Dimitris Stamatis and just ahead of former PASOK and Democratic Left (DIMAR) MP Vassilis Economou.

Meanwhile SYRIZA, which is favored to win the January 25 ballot, unveiled its own list led by sociologist Constantinos Tsoukalas, a professor at the University of Athens and renowned critic of Greece?s bailout agreements. Academic Rania Antonopoulos was put in second place, ahead of party spokesman Panos Skourletis. Fourth place went to former ERT journalist Aglaia Kyritsi, one of the six female candidates on the 12-member list.