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Agence France-Presse

Newly-elected Athens mayor Costas Bakoyannis, scion of one of Greece’s most powerful political families, took his oath of office Sunday pledging to turn the crisis-battered capital into “a safe, clean and bright” European metropolis.
“Over the next four years I pledge to be a servant to Athenians,” the 41-year-old told a crowd of supporters at the ceremony.
“Athens is an idea … as proud as we are of this city’s historical past, we are saddened by its present state,” Bakoyannis said, adding that many residents of the capital “feel forgotten, invisible”.
“We want to lift the city high, without exceptions and without exclusions,” said the six-footer whose election in June made political history.

His mother Dora Bakoyannis was the first female mayor of Athens ahead of the 2004 Olympics. And last month, Bakoyannis’ uncle Kyriakos Mitsotakis was elected prime minister with the conservative New Democracy party.
A decade apart in age, uncle and nephew have made Greek political history by simultaneously holding two of the country’s leading political posts.
They have also stepped into posts formerly occupied by their respective parents, under the colours of the New Democracy party where the Mitsotakis family has been a force for decades.
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Family patriarch Constantine Mitsotakis – father to the new PM and grandfather to the new mayor – was party leader for a decade and prime minister from 1990 to 1993.
A father-of-four, the new mayor officially takes over his duties on September 1 in a city where the damage of a decade-long crisis is still evident: abandoned or dilapidated buildings, closed shops, broken pavements, and pockets where drugs and prostitution thrive.
Bakoyannis chose to take his oath of office in the run-down district of Akadimia Platonos, which was once the site of Plato’s Academy.

Like his uncle the new PM, Bakoyannis is big on public safety, seeking to capitalise on the previous leftist government’s perceived inaction against anarchist vandalism and lawlessness.
After vandals smeared paint on one of his electoral kiosks ahead of the first municipal electoral round on May 26, Bakoyannis let loose.
“They should cross themselves, if they believe in God, that I don’t become mayor,” he said.
Bakoyannis has promised to focus on the “obvious” – “Safety, cleanliness, lighting”.
Among his pledges is a €54.4 million (US$60 million) promenade connecting some of the capital’s main landmarks, and building playgrounds and cycling routes.
The incoming mayor was just 11 years old when his father Pavlos Bakoyannis, a lawmaker with New Democracy, was gunned down in 1989 by the far-left November 17 organisation.
Bakoyannis has said it “drove him nuts” that the previous administration of Alexis Tsipras had repeatedly granted prison leave to his father’s killer Dimitris Koufodinas.
The Harvard-educated Bakoyannis was first elected mayor of the small mountainous town of Karpenissi in 2010 at the age of 33.
He had previously served as special adviser to his mother when she was foreign minister from 2006 to 2009.
As mayor of Karpenissi he is credited with bringing additional tourism to the area.
In 2014 he was elected to the post of regional governor for central Greece.


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Greece

New Athens mayor Costas Bakoyannis pledges major revamp of crisis-hit Greek capital

Costas Bakoyannis, mayor of Athens, attends his swearing-in ceremony. Photo: AFP

Costas Bakoyannis mayor of Athens attends his swearing-in ceremony as mayor of Athens at the park Platon academy in Athens, on August 25, 2019. - Newly-elected Athens mayor Costas Bakoyannis, scion of one of Greece's most powerful political families, takes the oath of office on August 25, 2019 after vowing to revitalise the battered capital. (Photo by ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP)

Newly-elected mayor of Athens Costas Bakoyannis (C) greets supporters during his swearing-in ceremony at the park Platon academy in Athens, on August 25, 2019. - Newly-elected Athens mayor Costas Bakoyannis, scion of one of Greece's most powerful political families, takes the oath of office Sunday after vowing to revitalise the battered capital. (Photo by ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP)

Greece election: new Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sworn in, vows end to ‘painful’ era

Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis comfortably won Greece’s parliamentary elections Sunday. Photo: Reuters

REFILE - ADDING INFORMATION Greek Prime Minister and leader of leftist Syriza party Alexis Tsipras greets his partner Peristera Baziana after delivering a speech at Zappeion Hall, after the general election in Athens, Greece, July 7, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Greek opposition New Democracy conservative party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis left, is sworn in as Greece's new prime minister in Athens, Monday, July 8, 2019. Mitsotakis' New Democracy party won 39.8% of the vote, giving him 158 seats in the 300-member parliament, a comfortable governing majority. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Supporters of the Greece's newly elected Prime Minister and leader of conservative New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis, celebrate outside the party's headquarters after the official results of the elections in Athens on July 7, 2019. - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras conceded defeat in a general election to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, head of the conservative New Democracy party, his office said. Leftist Tsipras called Mitsotakis to congratulate him, a source in the prime minister's office told AFP, with New Democracy on track to score a landslide victory according to early results. (Photo by LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP)

Why Greece’s new government is likely to stay close to China

Greece is keen to court investment as it continues to rebuild its economy. Photo: Reuters

TOPSHOT - Greece's newly elected Prime Minister and leader of conservative New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis, waves at his supporters outside the party's headquarters after the official results of the elections, in Athens on July 7, 2019. - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras conceded defeat in a general election to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, head of the conservative New Democracy party, his office said. Leftist Tsipras called Mitsotakis to congratulate him, a source in the prime minister's office told AFP, with New Democracy on track to score a landslide victory according to early results. (Photo by ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP)

Leader of New Democracy conservative party and winner of Greek general election Kyriakos Mitsotakis looks on during a swearing-in ceremony as prime minister at the Presidential Palace in Athens, Greece July 8, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

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After being sworn in on Sunday, Bakoyannis vowed to turn Athens into a ‘safe, clean and bright’ city



After being sworn in on Sunday, Bakoyannis vowed to turn Athens into a ‘safe, clean and bright’ city.


European Union

New Athens mayor Costas Bakoyannis pledges major revamp of crisis-hit Greek capital

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} After being sworn in on Sunday, Bakoyannis vowed to turn Athens into a ‘safe, clean and bright’ city

After being sworn in on Sunday, Bakoyannis vowed to turn Athens into a ‘safe, clean and bright’ city