Two years into his term as Mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas takes stock of what he has and hasn’t accomplished. He admits to a slow start in the first two years, as he was unfamiliar with how local government functions, but now says his administration is picking up speed in implementing its program. Doukas characterizes Kostas Bakoyannis as a “bad mayor,” saying he was fixated on superficial projects that caused problems in Athens, such as the “Great Walk” (Megalos Peripatos).

Watch the interview of the Mayor of Athens with Antonis Sroiter:

Speaking about Athens’ traffic congestion, he describes the situation as suffocating and calls for the rapid acceleration of Metro expansion projects. He acknowledges that illegal parking remains a problem and says he will continue to remove license plates and issue fines, despite public backlash. In Kolonaki, he notes, a new “I Won’t Pay” movement has emerged, with citizens urging others not to pay their parking tickets. He further proposes increasing the fines so they are no longer cheaper than private parking fees.

On crime and drug trafficking, Doukas says that drug dealers essentially wait for addicts outside rehabilitation centers run by the municipality. “If the police don’t remove the traffickers, I will remove the rehab centers from the city center,” he says. He also directs criticism at the Ministry of Health: “The Municipality tries to clean up the city squares from drugs, and the Ministry goes around handing out syringes at night in those same squares.”

Doukas disagrees with those who think hunger strikers’ tents and banners for the Tempi train crash have no place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

On political developments, he insists that PASOK must aim for first place in the next election and that coming in second would be a failure. He notes that PASOK’s current polling numbers are not satisfactory, but also that Nikos Androulakis cannot continue as a “president on probation.” He calls for a party congress, from which clear positions must emerge – primarily, that there will be no post-election cooperation with New Democracy.

Regarding Alexis Tsipras, Doukas clearly states that he would never align with him, as he belongs to PASOK and only PASOK. He says that PASOK voters gave him a message in the party’s internal elections: one cannot be both a mayor and a party leader. However, he adds that the chapter of “national political leadership” is not closed for him.