PASOK MP vexed by leader’s decision to keep Thessaloniki seat

Haris Kastanidis, a lawmaker with socialist PASOK, expressed anger at party leader Nikos Androulakis' decision - after standing as a candidate in Thessaloniki, Iraklio on Crete (where he was born) and the Southern Electoral District of Athens in the May 21 election - to keep his seat in the 1st Constituency of Thessaloniki.

As a result, Kastanidis was left out of Parliament, albeit for just a day. Kastanidis had been running in the same constituency since he was first elected to Parliament in 1981.

In a statement issued on Saturday, he described the move as a "personal insult," adding however that Androulakis' decision will not have any practical significance, since the Parliament only convened for one day and was dissolved immediately to prepare for a second election, after the first party, ruling New Democracy, achieved a big victory but fell short of an outright...