Home
Anti-bailout party poised to win Greece election
Published January 25, 2015
Associated Press
Jan. 25, 2015: Alexis Tsipras, leader of Greece's Syriza left-wing main opposition party laughs as he arrives to cast his vote at a polling station in Athens. (AP)
Greece voted Sunday in an early general election that could alter the course of the country's struggle with crippling debts, with a radical left party poised to win by promising to rewrite the terms of its international bailout.
The Syriza party led by Alexis Tsipras has remained firmly ahead of conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' New Democracy party in opinion polls throughout the election campaign, which was called two years ahead of schedule.
But those polls also have shown that a significant portion of voters remained undecided until the last minute, and suggest that Syriza might struggle to win enough parliamentary seats to form a government on its own.
"These elections are crucial for our future and for the future of our children," Samaras said after he cast his ballot in a southern Greek town. "Today we decide whether we will go forward with strength, with security, with assuredness, or whether we will head into adventures."
Samaras said he was optimistic of victory given what he called the "unprecedented large number" of undecided voters. He said they would determine the outcome.
Tsipras was mobbed by a media throng as he voted in Athens. "The Left's time has come!" chanted a nearby pack of his party's youth activists.
A relaxed-looking Tsipras joked with journalists jostling for quotes and photos to calm down. "We've been waiting for this moment for five years. You can wait for another five minutes," he said.
"Today, the Greek people are called to decisively make the remaining step toward the return of hope, the end of fear, the return of democracy and dignity in our country," he said outside the polling station. He said a vote for Syriza would ensure that Greece negotiated "a tough bargain to rejoin Europe on an equal basis. I am optimistic this will be a historic day."
Syriza has promised to renegotiate the country's 240 billion euro ($270 billion) international bailout deal. It has pledged to reverse many of the reforms that international creditors demanded in exchange for keeping Greece financially afloat since 2010.
The anti-bailout rhetoric has renewed doubts over Greece's ability to emerge from its financial crisis that has seen a quarter of its economy wiped out, sent unemployment soaring and undermined the euro, the currency shared by 19 European countries.
Greece's creditors insist the country must abide by previous commitments to continue receiving support, and investors and markets alike have been spooked by the anti-bailout rhetoric. Greece could face bankruptcy if a solution is not found, although speculation of a "Grexit" — Greece leaving the euro — and a potential collapse of the currency has been far less fraught than during the last general election in 2012.
Samaras' campaign focused on the improving economy, which grew for the first time in six years in the third quarter of 2014. He has promised to reduce taxes if re-elected and has warned of the potentially dire consequences of reneging on bailout conditions. Opponents accused him of using fear tactics.
Syriza's promises to end Greece's era of crushing austerity have attracted many voters infuriated by the deterioration in their standard of living and ever-increasing tax bills.
The big question is whether any party will win the required 151 seats in the 300-member parliament to form a government on its own. The Greek political scene has fractured during the financial crisis, with voters abandoning the two formerly dominant parties — the conservatives and the socialists — in favor of a smattering of smaller parties.
Mara Ramou, an official at one Athens polling center, said she hoped the vote would produce a stable government without the need for a second contest, as happened in 2012.
"I hope the votes will express what people truly want and believe, so that things change for us," she said, adding her concern that social and financial pressures would not "get worse in Greece than what they already are, because austerity and the crisis touch all levels of society."
Without the required 151 seats, whichever party wins the most seats will have to try forming a coalition government with at least one other party. The first three parties each have three days to try and form a coalition government to avoid a second election being called within a month.
Another option would be for the winner to seek support for a minority government. This would involve other parties agreeing to support the government in parliament without taking part in a formal coalition.
Opinion polls ahead of the vote showed the new centrist Potami, or River, party vying for third place with Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn, whose leader and several top lawmakers are in jail awaiting trial on charges of participating in a criminal organization.
Greece's next government faces a series of formidable tasks, the most pressing of which is concluding negotiations with bailout inspectors to release a 7.2 billion euro ($8.1 billion) loan installment originally due late last year.
The inspectors "must come soon," Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis said Saturday.
The new government also must negotiate some kind of relief for Greece's 320 billion euro debt and bolster weak growth
.http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/25/anti-bailout-party-poised-to-win-greece-election-1087134497/
Published January 25, 2015
Associated Press
Jan. 25, 2015: Alexis Tsipras, leader of Greece's Syriza left-wing main opposition party laughs as he arrives to cast his vote at a polling station in Athens. (AP)
Greece voted Sunday in an early general election that could alter the course of the country's struggle with crippling debts, with a radical left party poised to win by promising to rewrite the terms of its international bailout.
The Syriza party led by Alexis Tsipras has remained firmly ahead of conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' New Democracy party in opinion polls throughout the election campaign, which was called two years ahead of schedule.
But those polls also have shown that a significant portion of voters remained undecided until the last minute, and suggest that Syriza might struggle to win enough parliamentary seats to form a government on its own.
"These elections are crucial for our future and for the future of our children," Samaras said after he cast his ballot in a southern Greek town. "Today we decide whether we will go forward with strength, with security, with assuredness, or whether we will head into adventures."
Samaras said he was optimistic of victory given what he called the "unprecedented large number" of undecided voters. He said they would determine the outcome.
Tsipras was mobbed by a media throng as he voted in Athens. "The Left's time has come!" chanted a nearby pack of his party's youth activists.
A relaxed-looking Tsipras joked with journalists jostling for quotes and photos to calm down. "We've been waiting for this moment for five years. You can wait for another five minutes," he said.
"Today, the Greek people are called to decisively make the remaining step toward the return of hope, the end of fear, the return of democracy and dignity in our country," he said outside the polling station. He said a vote for Syriza would ensure that Greece negotiated "a tough bargain to rejoin Europe on an equal basis. I am optimistic this will be a historic day."
Syriza has promised to renegotiate the country's 240 billion euro ($270 billion) international bailout deal. It has pledged to reverse many of the reforms that international creditors demanded in exchange for keeping Greece financially afloat since 2010.
The anti-bailout rhetoric has renewed doubts over Greece's ability to emerge from its financial crisis that has seen a quarter of its economy wiped out, sent unemployment soaring and undermined the euro, the currency shared by 19 European countries.
Greece's creditors insist the country must abide by previous commitments to continue receiving support, and investors and markets alike have been spooked by the anti-bailout rhetoric. Greece could face bankruptcy if a solution is not found, although speculation of a "Grexit" — Greece leaving the euro — and a potential collapse of the currency has been far less fraught than during the last general election in 2012.
Samaras' campaign focused on the improving economy, which grew for the first time in six years in the third quarter of 2014. He has promised to reduce taxes if re-elected and has warned of the potentially dire consequences of reneging on bailout conditions. Opponents accused him of using fear tactics.
Syriza's promises to end Greece's era of crushing austerity have attracted many voters infuriated by the deterioration in their standard of living and ever-increasing tax bills.
The big question is whether any party will win the required 151 seats in the 300-member parliament to form a government on its own. The Greek political scene has fractured during the financial crisis, with voters abandoning the two formerly dominant parties — the conservatives and the socialists — in favor of a smattering of smaller parties.
Mara Ramou, an official at one Athens polling center, said she hoped the vote would produce a stable government without the need for a second contest, as happened in 2012.
"I hope the votes will express what people truly want and believe, so that things change for us," she said, adding her concern that social and financial pressures would not "get worse in Greece than what they already are, because austerity and the crisis touch all levels of society."
Without the required 151 seats, whichever party wins the most seats will have to try forming a coalition government with at least one other party. The first three parties each have three days to try and form a coalition government to avoid a second election being called within a month.
Another option would be for the winner to seek support for a minority government. This would involve other parties agreeing to support the government in parliament without taking part in a formal coalition.
Opinion polls ahead of the vote showed the new centrist Potami, or River, party vying for third place with Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn, whose leader and several top lawmakers are in jail awaiting trial on charges of participating in a criminal organization.
Greece's next government faces a series of formidable tasks, the most pressing of which is concluding negotiations with bailout inspectors to release a 7.2 billion euro ($8.1 billion) loan installment originally due late last year.
The inspectors "must come soon," Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis said Saturday.
The new government also must negotiate some kind of relief for Greece's 320 billion euro debt and bolster weak growth
.http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/25/anti-bailout-party-poised-to-win-greece-election-1087134497/
» Parliamentary Services Determine The Only Solution To End The Housing Crisis In Iraq
» Finance spent 2 trillion dinars for Erbil in the first 3 months of 2022
» Increasing the capital of the central bank enhances its balanced monetary policy
» Parliament intends to legislate a national security law
» The Presidency of the Region denies its request from the UN Security Council to mediate between Erbi
» Baghdad reveals the "restructuring" of oil contracts in Kurdistan and threatens violators with legal
» Parliamentary Al-Fateh: We objected to the Food Security Law in order not to legitimize the current
» The President of the Region: We have reached a ground to solve the political blockage and there are
» Gold prices are rising in the Iraqi markets
» About a billion dollars in bank sales in a week
» Al-Rasheed Bank decides to raise the credit card ceiling to 5 times the salary
» The River Street Stock Exchange in Baghdad records a slight decrease in gold prices
» Decline in Iraq's oil exports to America
» Iyad Allawi sends a message to the political forces
» Parliamentary Energy: Ending the electricity crisis file depends on three factors
» Electricity announces the start of the initial stages of construction of solar power plants
» Ministry of Electricity: We will pay Iranian gas dues at the end of May
» Finance Committee: The Food Security Law will include the addition of 500 billion dinars to serve Ba
» Khazali reveals that al-Sadr accepted deputies from al-Maliki's coalition to form a government and u
» Erbil wants to develop trade relations with Washington: 138 American companies are operating in the
» Al-Muthanna expects a suffocating water crisis and awaits 3 difficult months
» Federalism is not equal between citizens..Kurdish political prisoners threaten to sue the regional g
» The President of the Kurdistan Government leaves for Davos to attend the forum
» Two discussion tables to develop attitudes to legal legislation
» 3 differences between the government project and the parliamentary proposal for a food security law
» More than 320 cases before international courts to recover the looted antiquities of Iraq
» The Ports Company confirms control of the territorial waters and sea crossings
» Breaking consociationalism is more important than the prime minister’s position at Al-Sadr and antic
» Planning: food security will be a priority in the poverty strategy
» Al-Rasheed decides to raise the credit card ceiling to five times the salary
» Dollar exchange rates in local markets
» The Triple Alliance recalls its strength and "refutes" allegations of political blockage
» Al-Halbousi: “The ban on normalization” is a true reflection of the people’s will
» The PUK demands Baghdad to protect Iraqi lands, including Kurdistan
» Nechirvan Barzani meets with Bafel Talabani in Sulaymaniyah
» Iyad Allawi invites political forces
» Barzani clarifies the possibility of "resolving" differences between Kurdish forces
» Representative of the State of Law: The expected scenarios in the next stage herald a solution to th
» A deputy expects the Federal Court to respond in the event of a new challenge to the Food Security L
» Minister of Electricity: Iranian gas dues will be paid at the end of this month
» An Iraqi speech to the Security Council - Hana Adwar
» Federal: The caretaker government is achieving the withdrawal of confidence from the Prime Minister
» Kurdistan Region establishes 3 advanced industrial cities with international assistance
» The President of the Kurdistan Regional Government participates in the Davos World Economic Forum
» I am confident of its success.. The coordination framework: the political blockage will be resolved
» 7 Chaired Parliamentary Committees.. Women's Disputes Obstacles to Choosing the Chairperson of "Wome
» Gold prices are rising in the Iraqi markets
» It was recently inaugurated by the government.. (700) million dinars donated by citizens at the shri
» Next Wednesday .. Who will prevail in the food security law, for the devotees or for those who refus
» Iraq achieves $ 20 billion in surplus oil sales and avoids borrowing
» Parliamentary committee reveals the reason for the deterioration of electric power: Iran is conducti
» Good Deed distributes the food basket in Baghdad to orphans and the needy on the anniversary of the
» Alia Nassif: Parliament can instruct the Ministry of Finance to take alternative mechanisms to the F
» Al-Maliki: The judiciary is the last pillar of the stability of the political process, and its decis
» Close to him: Al-Amri is in good health, and there is no health to take him to the hospital
» His office: Al-Kazemi will participate in receiving the body of the Iraqi poet Muzaffar Al-Nawab
» Al-Halbousi participates in an “extraordinary emergency” conference in Cairo
» In an effort to resolve the crisis, a negotiating team presents the initiative of the independents t
» The Minister of Finance excludes resorting to borrowing and reveals the size of the surplus from sel
» The World Bank announces its readiness to support Iraq by expanding the use of clean energy
» With 967 thousand barrels per day.. Iraq is the third largest oil exporter to China in the month of
» The stability of the dollar exchange rates on the Iraqi local stock exchange
» Parliamentary Energy explains the reasons for the deterioration of the electricity supply to citizen
» Independent representatives form a negotiating team to present their initiative
» Oil prices rise, Brent approaches $113 a barrel
» Dollar exchange rates in local markets
» An upcoming meeting with the Sadrists.. The independents form a committee to present their initiativ
» The political winds in Kurdistan are moving.. Setting a date for the visit of a delegation from the
» A segment of retirees and employees addresses Parliamentary Finance about the predecessor of Al-Rafi
» Service Council Chairman: We are ready to launch any electronic form as soon as job grades are avail
» MilitiaMan " The World is Watching" Thursday Night 5-19-2022
» KTFA Members "News and Views" Thursday Afternoon 5-19-2022
» Documents: The legal cordon "tightens" the Ministry of Oil regarding the region's oil, and the Feder
» Dozens of parliamentarians sign to settle defense mobilization salaries
» The supply of electric power in an Iraqi governorate has fallen to a third
» Reservations and controversy in Parliament’s reading of “Food Security”
» The Prime Minister directs to change {Green} and return its original names
» Iraq asks America to answer 14 files of convicts residing on its soil
» Opening it may topple big heads.. Parliamentary Integrity: “Corruption files” are closed with a “pol
» Washington imposes sanctions on Hezbollah financial companies in Iraq
» Transportation announces the reception of three commercial ships in the northern port of Umm Qasr
» Iraq and Jordan sign a memorandum of understanding on the exploitation of natural resources
» The Central Bank and Kurdistan Integrity sign a cooperation agreement to reduce money laundering
» The Supreme Judicial Council calls on political forces not to include him in their disputes
» Ministry of Commerce: There will be no famine in Iraq
» Dollar exchange rates in local markets
» Alsumaria publishes a picture of the bank account of the Minister of Transport
» State of Law: UNAMI is out of context
» Count him as an escape.. A legal expert comments on the dismissed governor of Salah al-Din sending h
» In the document .. Initiating a criminal case against the Minister of Oil for his failure to impleme
» Irada movement calls for respect for what is issued by the judiciary and directs a request to the po
» Can the proposed food security law be challenged? Legal expert explains
» Political blockage.. Is external mediation the solution?
» Document .. Federal Oil announces that it will "take over" the management of the export of crude fro
» KTFA Members "News and Views" Wednesday PM 5-18-2022
» Noon Agency publishes the text of the proposed food security bill in Parliament
» Al-Maliki..we are surprised by the insistence on legislating the food security law and standing agai
» Ur State Company signs a contract worth more than 13 billion dinars to supply electricity to the cen