The mayors and prefects in Greece, who will be elected in the local elections in October, will once again have a five-year mandate as was the case in the period 2014-2019, and the parties have already started presenting their candidates.

As MIA writes, through a circular letter, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Greece, in charge of the electoral process, informed about the manner in which the local elections will be conducted.

Unlike the previous elections, when the mandate of local authorities was four years, now the functions will be held for five years, that is, from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2028.

The first round of the local elections is scheduled for October 8, and in order to be elected a winner, it will be necessary for one of the candidates to receive over 43 percent of the votes, that is, 43 percent plus one vote. Otherwise, a week later, on October 15, a second round will be held.

In parallel, the parties have already started presenting the candidates for mayors and prefects.

The ruling New Democracy has supported the candidacies for a second term of the current mayors of Athens, Thessaloniki and Piraeus, Kostas Bakoyannis, Konstaninos Zervas and Yanis Moralis.

The opposition SYRIZA proposed former MP Kostas Zachariadis for mayor of Athens, although the name of former basketball player from Panathinaikos, Nikos Pappas, was mentioned.

The deadline for submission of candidacies, which will be submitted electronically for the first time for local elections, is until the end of this month.