ND and Pasok dominance dealt 'fatal blow'

by George Gilson 6 May 2012

The Greek electorate dealt a fatal blow to the decades-old hegemony of the two parties, Pasok and New Democracy, that approved the harsh EU-IMF bailout memorandum. New Democracy placed first as expected, but its 19.18 percent is a far cry for a parliamentary majority, and a steep drop from its 33.5 percent when ND was routed in 2008. Many expected a strong backlash from the centrist, liberal faction of the party, which has criticised leader Antonis Samaras’ strategy. The results noted are as announced at 9.30 pm, with about a fifth of the votes counted, by the Singular Logic company that is processing the returns. ND was decimated by its leader’s decision to expel about 20 MPs that voted down the bailout memorandum. The Independent Greeks, an ND splinter party, is garnering 10.5 percent. Party leader Panos Kammenos suggested that MPs may break party lines to form an ant-memorandum coalition, and he alluded to possible leadership challenges in parties. The astounding success of the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza), which is poised with 16.5 percent, to become the main opposition, is the greatest upset of the election. That guarantees party leader Alexis Tsipras an exploratory mandate, if Samaras fails to form government, to see if he can form a left-wing anti-memorandum government, as he pledged. The total collapse of Pasok is the most dramatic development in the election, as its 13.6 percent is about 30 percentage points less than its 2009 showing. Only in the 1970s, before the party first came to power, did it record a lower result. Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said there was no clear mandate for any single party. He called for a national unity government, comprised of all pro-EU parties, regardless of their position on the harsh fiscal adjustment programme. Venizelos said that the electorate completely upset the political scene, and he attributed the electoral disaster to the fact that Pasok on its own had to manage the crisis all on its own. “We embittered the people to protect the future of the nation. History will judge,” Venizelos said after the 9.30pm results. “Let the God of Greece help us!” he proclaimed, declaring that the party must be “reborn”. Venizelos noted that a Pasok-ND coalition is not feasible, and that a coalition government needs broader participation. “We are back to where we started in 1974,” Pasok MP Petros Efthimiou told private Mega TV after Venizelos’ statement.  Parties that are pro-EU but oppose the memorandum include Fotis Kouvelis’ Democratic Left, which is expected to receive about six percent. Panos Kammenos’ anti-memorandum Independent Greeks is not anti-EU per se, but Kammenos says he will not cooperate with the leaders of Pasok and ND, whom he denounces as “traitors”. The Communist Party (KKE) appeared to gain little support from the crisis, as its 8.5 percent is just a tad higher than the 7.54 percent it received in 2009. The entry into parliament of the extreme right Golden Dawn party, with a projected seven percent, is one of the most alarming results of the election. That would give the neo-Nazi party about 22 seats in the 300 member legislature. Three parties appear to be a hair’s breadth from entering parliament. Both right wing Laos and the Ecogreens are projected to receive about 2.9 percent, a sliver shy of the three percent threshold. Dora Bakoyannis’ Democratic Alliance garnered 2.7 percent in the 9:30 pm projections, based on 50 percent of the nationwide count. Report from the Athens News 7 May 2012 So, it is far from over!  Jane x

Athens Burns While the Politicians Vote

Athens reeling from latest riots

Firefighters were dousing smoldering buildings and cleanup crews were sweeping rubble on Monday morning following a night of rioting in central Athens after Greek lawmakers approved tough new austerity measures demanded by foreign creditors to prevent default.
At least 45 buildings were burned -- including the neo-classical home to the Attikon cinema dating from 1870 -- while dozens of stores and cafes were smashed and looted.
The stench of tear gas hung in the air on Monday morning, chocking passers-by. More than 120 people were hurt in the rioting which also broke out in cities across the country, including Greece's second-largest city Thessaloniki and the islands of Corfu and Crete.
Police said 150 shops were looted in the capital and 48 buildings set ablaze. Some 100 people -- including 68 police -- were wounded and 130 detained, a police official told AP on Monday.
Lili Bertsou, a 35-year-old teacher who took part at the demonstration, told Kathimerini English Edition, the police had blatantly failed to protect peaceful demonstrators as well as the city.
“Police must finally nab those who cause the mess. They are no more than 100 people,” she said of the groups of self-styled anarchists. She said she had joined the Sunday protests because she was “disgusted” with the fresh austerity measures.
Citizens' Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis has come under fire for failing to contain the violence. PASOK spokesman Panos Beglitis earlier Monday defended the socialist minister against calls to resign from his post.
The rioting began ahead of a tense vote in Parliament on a fresh package of austerity measures requested by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in exchange for a second bailout loan. Lawmakers approved the agreement in the early hours of Monday despite more than 40 PASOK and New Democracy deputies voting against the terms of the deal.
Out of 300 lawmakers, 278 cast their ballot following several hours of intense debate. Of those, 199 voted “yes” in principle, while 74 voted “no” and five voted “present.” The rest did not vote.
Twenty two PASOK MPs and 21 New Democracy deputies voted against the bill. In both cases, those lawmakers were expelled from their parties.
Former Transport Minister Makis Voridis and Deputy Mercant Marine Minister Adonis Georgiadis went against the line of their party, Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), by voting for the bill. Both were expelled.
It was the first time in Greek parliamentary history that so many lawmakers were ousted from their parties on the same night.
The vote followed a heated debate in Parliament about the terms of the agreement, which include unpopular measures such as a 22 percent cut to the minimum wage and further reductions in pensions.
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos repeated his warning that if Greece did not take up the new loan agreement, it would face a “catastrophic” disorderly default.
“We are looking the Greek people straight in the eye with full knowledge of our historical responsibility,” he said in a televised address. “The social costs that come with these measures are contained in comparison to the economic and social catastrophe that will follow if we don’t adopt them.”
Eurozone finance ministers will convene in Brussels on Wednesday in an extraordinary meeting that was set after they declined in a special session on February 9 to ratify the 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) package. [Combined reports]