Haris Doukas

Incoming Athens Mayor Haris Doukas on Wednesday reiterated his criticism of a controversial government amendment, highlighting its impact on the Athens municipality's authority over capital projects.

Just a few days before the Municipality of Athens changes leadership, the government submitted an amendment on Tuesday evening that limits its powers in terms of projects in the city.

Athens mayor-elect Haris Doukas visited the municipal authority's Department of Sanitation on Monday, where he vowed a cleaner, greener city.

"Cleanliness will be a top priority" of his five-year term in office, which begins on January 1, Doukas said, adding that he was "very proud" of the department's efforts to that end.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis took a swipe at the newly elected mayor of Athens, opposition PASOK-backed Haris Doukas, on Tuesday over his stance towards a dispute concerning a public park in the downtown Athens district of Exarchia, where residents are protesting the removal of trees by the contractor building the capital's metro extension. 

The pruning of trees in central Exarchia Square in Athens on Monday morning, so they can be transplanted in the context of the metro works, provoked the reaction of residents and agencies opposed to their cutting and removal. The contentious issue also prompted the intervention of mayor-elect Haris Doukas, as well as SYRIZA MP Nassos Iliopoulos.

Minor scuffles broke out on Monday morning between the police and protesters near Exarchia Square in central Athens, where construction is underway for a new metro station. The protesters, upset about the felling of trees at the construction site, caused slight damage to the site's fence, prompting the police to use pepper spray to disperse them.

The campaign pledge by newly elected Athens mayor Haris Doukas to reopen the closed-to-traffic Vasilissis Olgas Avenue has triggered a public debate, with Culture Minister Lina Mendoni asserting her opposition, saying antiquities have been found there and therefore asphalt cannot be laid. 

Doukas takes over as Athens mayor from defeated incumbent Kostas Bakoyannis on January 1.

Haris Doukas, an associate professor at the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), has formally announced his candidacy for the upcoming municipal elections in Athens, leading the ticket Athens Now.