Posted on 06/17/2012 8:21:10 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Greece's pro-bailout parties won a slim parliamentary majority in Sunday's elections, after an inconclusive general election in May failed to produce a government.
The radical leftists who had vied for first place conceded defeat, after official estimates showed the conservative New Democracy party winning 29.5 percent of the vote, the radical leftist Syriza party receiving 27.1 percent and the PASOK Socialists taking 12.3 percent.
New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said “the Greek people today voted for Greece to remain on its European path and in the eurozone.”
In Washington, a White House statement said that “as President Obama and other world leaders have said, we believe that it is in all our interests for Greece to remain in the euro area while respecting its commitment to reform.”
Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has been a major contributor to Greece's two multi-billion-dollar bailouts. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that “if the New Democracy's win is confirmed, Germany would consider such a result a decision by Greek voters to forge ahead with the implementation of far-reaching economic and fiscal reforms.”
New Democracy has promised to renegotiate the harsh austerity conditions of Greece's bailout by the European Union and International Monetary Fund. But Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Syriza party, called for the annulling of the austerity package altogether, a decision which could have forced Greece to leave Europe's common euro currency.
Samaras said Tsipras' policies will put Greece into a worse situation than it is in now.
The monetary crisis in Greece, which first exploded in 2009, set off a chain reaction across Europe. Greece is now in its fifth year of recession, with unemployment spiraling to above 22 percent. Opinion polls show that Greeks overwhelmingly favor remaining in the euro, but are just as opposed to the austerity drive.
This is no solution. They just kicked the can down the dirt road of oblivion.
i guess your title is a clue as to how far the EUSSR is gone.
there is no “conservative” in a “bailout” party.
Inventors of _____ paper, looking for a “fall guy.”
yitbos
A stunning victory with 29.5% of the vote—about what John W. Davis got in the 1924 Presidential election. Everyone remembers the glorious Presidency of John W. Davis.
The Greeks are NOT going to work harder - or reduce their standard of living - just so they can send their savings to German and French banks that hold Greek sovereign debt.
The Greeks are going to default.
And what sense would it make to give up the Euro and print hyper-inflationary drachma?
No sense at all.
Just keep the Euro - then default.
..official estimates showed the conservative New Democracy party winning 29.5 percent of the vote, the radical leftist Syriza party receiving 27.1 percent and the PASOK Socialists taking 12.3 percent.
That looks to me like the communists won at least 39.4% of the vote compared to the "conservatives" winning 29.5%.
Hehe...The Germans will keep funding leisurely lifestyle of Greeks....
More debt on top of over-debted Greece is like giving another bottle of wine to a drunk.
The party with the largest share of votes get’s a 50-seat bonus.
This thing is FAR from over, folks.
Antonis Samaras has three days to form a new government. If he fails, it falls to Syriza. If they pass, it falls to Pasok in third place.
Pasok has already said they WILL NOT form a coalition with ND.
For ND to get to 151, they have to have the support of almost ALL the minor parties, including the Nazi’s.
Unless something unlikely happens, we get to do this all over again in August.
The socialists are pro bailout
all of those parties are socialist. it’s just a matter of degree.
That 50 seat bonus is a big chunk out of a total of 300...:^)
I wondered where the extra 50 members came from, but they are the next down the ladder that didn't make it in the proportional voting system.
New Democracy has won a closely-fought Greek election with anti-bailout pary Syriza. With almost all votes counted, New Democracy controlled 129 seats in the 300-seat parliament and the socialist Pasok party - a likely coalition candidate - secured 33 seats, enough for a workable majority.
Syriza came second, electing 71 deputies. Its leader Alexis Tsipras has ruled out joining a coalition, arguing that the harsh conditions for the bailout deal should be scrapped altogether.
Talks on forming a government are expected to start today, with head of state Carolos Papoulias set to task New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras with piecing together a coalition.
However, some investors are far from confident that the crisis is over.
Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at the investment bank VTB Capital, said: "I think investors should treat any sort of knee-jerk rally with caution."
"How long is it going to take for people to worry about Spain again?" wondered Peter Schiff of the brokerage Euro Pacific Capital.
"This crisis is not over," said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo. "The crisis will wax and wane for years. Maybe it will wane for the time being."
yitbos
“there is no “conservative” in a “bailout” party.”
I guess they are considered ‘conservative’ for also agreeing to the ‘tough’ terms of the bailout.
It makes perfect sense to dump the Euro for the Drachma. It’s the only way to get back to some kind of competitiveness for their economy. A cheap Drachma would get their tourism business roaring, and make their exports boom. Staying in the Euro dooms them to decades of misery.
No no, the (former now I guess) main socialist party PASOK which came in third is in fact guaranteed to join up with New Democracy, they were together in this all along in support of the bailout and necessary austerity measures and they have a majority of seats together this time. It’s over, whatever you heard is wrong. The only question is whether a small party or 2 will join the coalition as well.
It’s a real mess over there.
C’mon, Kozak.
Except for a couple outliers, like China and Japan and Germany, every country in the world earns less than 25% of GDP from exports.
So Greece is going to decimate its domestic economy - probably at least 80% of its GDP - in order to ramp up its exports?
That makes no sense.
The correct action is this...
Stay in the Euro.
100% default on sovereign debt.
Pay ultra-high interest rates on short term debt to keep the government liquid for the next few years until financial stability and confidence can be restored.
Nonsense. The Greeks need tourism as a major component of their economy, which benefits from dumping the Euro. They also need to maximize their exports ( they do export agricultural goods , they also used to be major shipbuilders).
From NR:
Greece’s main problem is that its currency overvaluation within the euro is on the order of 30 percent or more. Any new government — however successful at restoring the nation’s public finances — cannot possibly improve the productivity of Greek workers by one-third in any space of time. The more the EU softens the terms of its assistance, moreover, the less incentive Athens will have for trying. And the harder it tries, the more likely it is to provoke social unrest, to strengthen Syriza, and to weaken the commitment of the main center-left party, Pasok, to its governing partners and the deal with the EU.
Staying in the Euro is a huge mistake.
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