Winner of Greek elections moves to form government that will embrace bailout
Greece’s economic plight and Europe’s broader problems have become one of the chief risks to the world economy, and will be a focus of talks when President Obama and other Group of 20 leaders meet in Mexico this week. Europe’s troubles already are buffeting the U.S. economy, making them a matter of immediate concern for Obama’s reelection efforts.
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said he had called Samaras to congratulate him but would be an aggressive opposition leader. The austerity demands of the bailout “are not sustainable, and the government with New Democracy as a core should take this into account,” Tsipras said.
Greece’s conservative New Democracy Party won enough votes in the country’s parliamentary election Sunday to form a governing coalition. In Greece, the results indicate that voters want to stay in the euro zone. Around the world, the news boosted international markets.
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Previous vote inconclusive
At the polls Sunday, both New Democracy and Syriza increased their share of the vote from the previous contest. New Democracy took around 30 percent of the national tally and Syriza about 27 percent.
The coming days will see Samaras bargain with the country’s other parties, most notably the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or Pasok. The Socialist party has alternated power with New Democracy throughout Greece’s modern history but crashed in the May election in the face of Syriza’s rise as a protest against the economic program that Pasok’s leaders negotiated with the IMF.
Pasok finished third Sunday. It won enough seats that if it joined with New Democracy, Samaras would be able to form a pro-bailout government. But in earlier statements, Pasok officials said they would not enter a coalition unless it was part of a larger national unity government that included Syriza. That scenario is unlikely, given Syriza’s anti-bailout stance.
Nation is divided
The strong showing Sunday by Syriza — 25 percent of the vote is substantial in Greece’s divided politics — was a sign of how ambivalent Greeks remain about the bailout. The nation is deeply divided over whether the emergency loans are worth the strict conditions imposed by the IMF and the European countries putting up the money.
But Greek voters were not ready to risk wholesale change — and, under Tsipras, a possible clash with Europe and exit from the euro zone.
Samaras, a Harvard-trained MBA, endorsed bailout efforts for Greece while he was an opposition leader in recent years.
He is considered by the IMF and other European nations to be a constructive partner in upcoming talks about the future of the program.
A Samaras-led government could also include the smaller Democratic Left party, strengthening his ability to pass legislation and take other steps required under the detailed memorandum signed by the Greek government just a few weeks ago in return for international loans.
Rescue plan running behind
Once a government is formed, the new prime minister will open talks with the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank to restore the flow of international bailout funds needed to keep Greece’s government and banking system afloat. Over several weeks of political stalemate, the country’s financial rescue plan has slipped behind schedule, and international officials are likely to want fresh commitments from the Greek government.
But there will be demands from Greece as well. Samaras has said he will ask to slow the timetable of budget cuts and other changes expected under the bailout program.
At polling places in well-to-do neighborhoods in the shadow of the Parthenon and in working-class enclaves, voters shared a frustration over the country’s circumstances and said they hoped the election would ease conditions regardless of the outcome.
“We’ve lost our dignity,” said 58-year-old Kostas Lazaridis, a Syriza supporter, as he thumbed a set of worry beads outside the graffiti-covered High School Number 12 in the capital’s Kato Petralona neighborhood. “Change should not be radical, but it is crucial. We have to put a stop to this.” washington post
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