While local leaders struggled to beat their competitors and some will have to go to a second round of elections next Sunday, one mayor managed to be elected with 100% of the votes.
32-year-old Maria Kakali on the remote island of Agios Efstratios had no competitor at all.
From 210 participating voters, 189 voted for Kakali, while two cast a “blank” vote and 19 were found to be ‘invalid.” The turnout was at 23.39%, most likely as all 898 registered voters do not live permanent on the island and did not bother to travel for the elections.
Kakali was first elected as mayor in 2014 and was declared the youngest mayor in Greece as she was 27 years old.
On Sunday, all registered voters of Agios Efstratios re-elected their beloved mayor who party won all the 13 seats in the city council.
She is a mother of two and a kindergarten teacher. She lives on the island of 250 inhabitants and two municipality employees. She quitd her kindergarten job when she was first elected in 2014.
She has fought and won the battle for better coastal connection of Agios Eftratios as well as for better health services for the locals.
In 2017, she also managed to get rid of millions of grasshoppers that had invaded the island. Her next goal is to increase visitors and boast tourism.
Agios Efstratios is located in the northern Aegean Sea, 19 nautical miles from the island of Lemnos and 50 n.m. from Lesvos.
The island was home for political prisoners in internal exile during the Metaxas dictatorship in the 1930s and the military junta 1967-1974.
One of the most prominent political prisoners was composer Mikis Theodorakis.
Agios Efstratios is included in the European union’s Natura 2000 network of nature protected areas.
Source: ToVima
