It is going to be very difficult forming a coalition government out of this splintered mess - "Mish" Shedlock
Greek
voters vent anger towards austerity at ballot box
Parties
that passed unpopular belt-tightening measures punished by electorate
at ballot box
6
May, 2012
Voters
in Greece sent tremors across the eurozone on Sunday by recording a
massive protest vote against EU-dictated austerity. Parties that had
participated in an emergency government tasked with passing deeply
unpopular belt-tightening measures in return for rescue loans to prop
up the near-bankrupt Greek economy were routed at the ballot box.
Instead,
with the recession-hit country lurching deeper into poverty and
despair, voters backed groups on the left and right that had
virulently opposed the deficit-reduction policies demanded by
international creditors.
"This
is a message of change, a message to Europe that a peaceful
revolution has begun," said Alexis Tsipras, who heads Syriza, a
coalition of radical left and green groups that took 16.6% of the
vote – the second largest share. "German chancellor Angela
Merkel has to know that the politics of austerity have suffered a
humiliating defeat."
The
reaction from Brussels and the Washington-based International
Monetary Fund, which have provided bailouts worth €240bn, was
silence.
With
no single party winning enough support to form a government, a period
of uncertainty lies ahead as political leaders attempt to form a
coalition. Analysts did not rule out fresh elections in June if a new
administration cannot be formed.
The
spectre of political unrest and market turmoil prompted many to ask
why the elections had taken place at all.
Voters
went out of their way to "punish" mainstream parties widely
blamed for years of fiscal mismanagement. "How can we vote for
parties to be part of the solution when they got us in this mess in
the first place?" asked Poppi Stathera, a mother of two, who
said she had been out of work for the past year. "We've been
completely destroyed. Our country is in ruins."
Economic
freefall and social disintegration also prompted Greeks to vote for
the far right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn), which campaigned on an
anti-immigration ticket. The ultra-nationalists, who poured into the
streets holding blazing torches, captured 7% of the vote – enough
to place 19 deputies in the 300-seat house for the first time since
the collapse of military rule in 1974.
The
conservative New Democracy party came in first but with 18.9% of the
vote, according to figures released by Greece's interior ministry.
Pasok,
the socialist party led by Evangelos Venizelos, the former finance
minister who had been the architect of many of the unpopular
policies, won 13.4%, compared to 40% in the last national poll, in
2009.
"Support
for the two main parties literally nosedived in the provinces,"
said Dimitris Keridis, professor of political science at Athens'
Panteion University. "We are talking about a complete collapse
of the party system as we have known it, which opens up new concerns
about Greece's ability to govern itself."
In
a sign of the political tumult that lies ahead, Antonis Samaras, New
Democracy's leader, said he would seek to create a "government
of national salvation" that would attempt to amend the loan
agreement Greece had signed with its "troika" of creditors,
the EU, European Central Bank and IMF.
"We
are ready to assume the responsibility of forming a government of
national salvation with two goals," he said, "keeping
[Greece] in the euro and amending the policies of the memorandum
[outlining the terms of the country's rescue loans] so that there can
be development and relief for society."
Appealing
to pro-European forces to consider his offer, he added: "I
understand people's rage but our party cannot allow Greece to remain
ungoverned."
If
the conservatives are unable to forge consensus, it will fall to
Tsipras, as leader of the second biggest party, to try to do so. The
leftist leader said he would act on his pre-election pledge to form a
government of "the united left", citing his party's
spectacular rise in the polls as proof that Greeks wanted such an
administration to steer them out of the crisis.
"With
their vote the Greek people have given the mandate for a new day in
our country without the cruel bailout measures," he said. "The
loan agreement that was signed without their consent has been
de-legitimised by popular vote."
But
the spectre of political unrest and market turmoil prompted many to
question the snap poll. Athens has been told in no uncertain terms
that failure to uphold the conditions of the financial rescue
programs will result in a freezing of funds and default.
"It
was a grave mistake to hold this election in such an atmosphere and
time of crisis and before the economy was stabilized," said
Keridis. "This result couldn't come at a worse time for Greece."
Comments
from “Mish” Shedlock
Splintering
of Greece: Will Anyone Rule? Exit Poll Has Anti-Bailout Party in
Second Place
Parties
that passed unpopular belt-tightening measures punished by electorate
at ballot box
6
May, 2012
Preliminary
exit polls are not good for the pro-austerity, keep Greece in the
Eurozone at any cost coalition as 3
parties vie for top post
An
exit poll commissioned by Greek media shows three parties are vying
for the top spot in the country's critical parliamentary elections,
with no definitive front-runner and none gaining enough votes to form
a government.
According
to the exit poll, the conservative New Democracy party will get
between 17 percent and 20 percent; the formerly majority socialist
PASOK between 14 percent and 17 percent, and the left-wing Radical
Left Coalition, or Syriza, between 15.5 percent and 18.5 percent.
The
extreme right-wing Golden Dawn is projected to win enough votes to
enter parliament, with between 6 percent and 8 percent, well above
the necessary 3 percent threshold.
It
is widely expected that New Democracy and PASOK will combine to form
a coalition. Both want to stay with the Euro. However, New Democracy
wants changes made to agreed upon austerity measures.
PASOK
leader Evangelos Venizelos is nothing but a tool for the eurocrat
clowns and appears to be a big loser in the elections vs expectations
just a few short weeks ago.
Exit
Poll Has Anti-Bailout Party in Second Place
Other
exit polls show the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) at 16-19%.
Bloomberg reports New Democracy Slightly Ahead in Greek Election,
Exit Poll Shows
Antonis
Samaras’s New
Democracy party showed a slight lead in Greek elections today,
receiving between 17 percent and 20 percent of the vote, an exit poll
forecast.
Anti-bailout
party Syriza got between 16 percent and 19 percent, according to the
exit poll broadcast on state-run television NET. Socialist Pasok got
between 14 percent and 17 percent, according to the poll.
Spotlight
on the Radical Left
The
Wall Street Journal proclaims Greek
Leftist Comes Into His Own
Young
and charismatic, Alexis Tsipras may be the man to watch on the Greek
political scene.
The
37-year-old, who’s an engineer by training, heads the Coalition of
the Radical Left — or Syriza — an umbrella left-wing party that
brings together various leftist strands ranging from Communist to
Social-democrat and environmentalist groups.
His
party has seen its polling figures rise in recent weeks, ahead of the
May 6 elections. The last polls—before a two week blackout period
imposed ahead of Sunday’s vote–showed Syriza poised to become the
third largest party for the first time in its history, garnering on
average above 10% of the popular vote.
Mr.
Tsipras advocates the annulment of Greece’s second bailout program
with the fiscal-consolidation and structural-reform policies attached
to it.
In
a recent interview with a Greek website, Mr. Tsipras said the country
was becoming a “protectorate, a colony” under the tough measures
that Greece’s troika of creditors–the European Union, the
European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund–demand to
continue funding the country’s bailout.
“It
is not our choice to leave the euro. But the sacrifices made by the
Greek people are not for the euro, they are for oligarchs, the
plutocrats, the big capital,” he said in the interview, adding that
these sacrifices were made so that “[German Chancellor Angela] Mrs.
Merkel and the northern countries benefit and run surpluses and the
southerners run deficits.”
Tsipras
could well find himself leading the main opposition party after the
elections, if Pasok and New Democracy form a coalition government. If
Syriza does get around 12%, a realistic prospect according to
Nikolakopoulos, that would translate to roughly 30 deputies in a
highly-fragmented, 300-seat parliament. That would put the young
party leader in a strong position to continue spreading his
anti-austerity message.
The
WSJ article was written three days ago. If exit polls are accurate,
the Radical Left will not be in third place with 10% of the vote, but
rather second place with perhaps as much as 18 or even 19 percent of
the vote.
It
is going to be very difficult forming a coalition government out of
this splintered mess.
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