Famellos elected SYRIZA leader

MP Sokratis Famellos has been elected the new leader of the left-wing SYRIZA party; official final results are still pending.

At 11.25 pm, about an hour after they had said they would post final results, SYRIZA posted that, with 99% of precincts reporting, Famellos was leading with 49.41% of the votes, followed by MP Pavlos Polakis (43.51%), MEP Nikolas Farantouris (5.09%) and regional councilor, ex-mayor of Stylida and actor Apostolos Gletsos (1.99%). It appears that, with Famellos so close to the 50% plus one vote threshold, it has been decided to acknowledge him as leader by acclamation in order to avoid a runoff.

"I want to congratulate Sokratis Famellos. A runoff is not needed. We must stay united to organize the fight against Mitsotakis' deep state," Polakis said a few minutes later from party headquarters. Earlier, he had been quoted as saying that "I will not...