Greece: Greece faces crucial vote that could trigger election | Reuters

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras faces a vote in parliament on Monday that will decide whether the country goes to snap elections that could bring the leftwing Syriza party to power and derail an international bailout. In the most hotly contested vote for president since Greece joined the euro more than a decade ago, the result in the final round of voting is likely to be decided by a small handful of deputies. If lawmakers fail to elect a successor to 85-year-old Karolos Papoulias, a snap election will be held within weeks. Syriza, leading in the opinion polls, vowed again to renegotiate the joint European Union-IMF bailout bailout Greece needs to pay its bills and roll over its debt.

Greece: Parliament vote in balance after Samaras election offer | Reuters

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ surprise offer to lawmakers to go to the polls late next year in exchange for a vote for his presidential nominee has injected fresh momentum into his fight against the anti-austerity left. However, as parliament prepares for a second round of voting on Tuesday to elect a successor to 85 year-old President Karolos Papoulias, the outcome still appears open with only a handful of independents pledging firm support to the government. If a new president is not elected by a third round on Dec. 29, elections will have to be held by early February, potentially handing power to Syriza, the main leftwing opposition party, which wants to renegotiate the international bailout agreement that Greece still needs to keep its battered finances afloat. Such an outcome could rock the euro zone, which is only just emerging from its debt crisis.

Greece: Parliament Doesn’t Approve Samaras’s Presidential Candidate | Wall Street Journal

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras ’s candidate for the presidency failed to win enough support in the first round of parliamentary voting on Wednesday, a move that could force the country into snap elections. Lawmakers couldn’t gather the two-thirds needed to elect former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas as the next president, with 160 members of the chamber backing the candidate, short of the needed 200. A present—or neutral—vote was cast by 135 lawmakers, while five lawmakers were absent. Although few officials in Mr. Samaras’s New Democracy party said they expected Mr. Dimas to be elected on Wednesday, his support came in at the bottom end of expectations. Informal estimates by government officials and analysts had suggested the government would garner between 160 and 165 votes.

Greece: Presidential vote to be held two months early | BBC

Greece has brought forward to this month the date of its next presidential election, which is conducted by the country’s parliament. The announcement came after eurozone ministers approved a Greek request for a two-month extension to its bailout programme, due to end later this month. The presidential vote on 17 December will be a vital test for embattled Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. His decision prompted the stock market in Athens to plummet 9.5% on Tuesday. Analysts said the markets had been spooked by the risk of snap elections, which will take place if the conservative-led government’s nomination is not approved by parliament.

Greece: Presidential elections puts pressure on Samaras | The Irish Times

With only four days to go before Greece’s MPs begin voting for the country’s new president, it’s still far from clear how the coalition under prime minister Antonis Samaras will secure the necessary support to have its candidate elected. This it must do to prevent snap elections that would almost certainly see it lose power to a government led by the anti-memorandum Syriza party. Already a clear 25 votes short of the minimum required to elect a president, Mr Samaras earlier this week decided to take a gamble by making a surprise announcement that he was bringing the election for a new head of state forward by two months.

Greece: Markets hit as presidential vote in doubt | Associated Press

Shares on the Athens Stock Exchange suffered more heavy losses Thursday, as the governing coalition appeared short of the support needed to stop the government collapsing in a parliamentary vote this month. Retreating for a third day, shares closed down nearly 7.5 percent, taking this week’s cumulative losses to around 20 percent. Meanwhile the yield on Greece’s 10-year-bond jumped to nearly 9 percent, way above levels thought as sustainable. Even though Greece has recently emerged from its brutal six-year recession and has made big strides to get its public finances into shape, the country has been thrown back into uncertainty following the decision earlier this week by conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to call an early vote in parliament to elect a new president. To get his preferred candidate — Stavros Dimas, a former commissioner at the European Union — elected, Samaras will require support from opposition lawmakers in the 300-member parliament.

Greece: Government gambles on early presidential vote | Associated Press

Greece’s conservative-led government on Monday called for a key vote in parliament for the country’s new president late this month – in a surprise move that will determine its survival in the recession-weary country. Government spokesman Sofia Voultepsi said the vote would be held Dec. 17, with possible later rounds held in the following 12 days. The vote had not been expected to be held until late February. The government needs the support from opposition lawmakers to avoid a stalemate and a snap general election, but is trailing in opinion polls to the anti-bailout Syriza party and facing widespread public discontent after a six-year recession.

Greece: Leftist Syriza Candidates Gain on Incumbents in Greek Local Elections | Wall Street Journal

With about a quarter of the ballots counted, the Syriza candidates for Athens and the province of Attica—where roughly 40% of the Greek population lives—staged a come-from-behind surge to secure a runoff against incumbents Mayor Giorgos Kaminis and regional prefect Ioannis Sgouros. In Athens, Mr. Kaminis was running roughly one percentage point ahead of challenger Gavriil Sakellaridis, while Rena Dourou, the Syriza candidate for provincial chief, was more than a percentage point ahead of Mr. Sgouros. Until a few days ago, both incumbents—who are identified with Greece’s socialist Pasok party—appeared to enjoy solid leads in their respective constituencies. This will be the first time New Democracy won’t even have a candidate in the second round in the Greek capital since 1975. “The first decisive step was taken today,” said Mr. Sakellaridis, promising an upset next week.

Greece: New Democracy Party Scores Narrow Win in Elections | TIME.com

Has the euro zone found some breathing room in its crisis? The conservative New Democracy (ND) party eked out a victory in Greece’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, edging out the leftist Syriza party, which is strongly opposed to the austerity measures imposed as part of the country’s bailout. The margin was less than 3 points. The victory, however, still leaves Greece without a government. ND failed to win an outright parliamentary majority and must join forces with at least one party to govern. The scenario is similar to the results of an earlier round of voting. ND also came in first in May 6 elections, again with Syriza running a close second, but failed to form a government then. Forming a government quickly is crucial because Greece could run out of cash to pay its bills as early as next month. It’s unclear which party might join ND in coalition. Greek media are speculating that the conservatives might join force with their traditional rival, the Socialist PASOK party, which came in a distant third on Sunday. Whether the results fully reflect the popular will is another question: nearly 38% of eligible voters abstained from voting — a much higher percentage than any party received.

Greece: Voters give Europe and single currency a chance | The Guardian

European leaders working to avert a meltdown of the single currency gained some respite when Greek voters handed a narrow victory to mainstream conservatives and the chance to forge a pro-euro and pro-bailout coalition. In the single most closely watched election in years, which amounted to a referendum on whether Greece would become the first country to be forced out of the single currency, the anti-austerity radical Alexis Tsipras was also given a boost, increasing his share of the vote to more than 27%. On a momentous night in European politics, Greece’s conservative New Democracy, under Antonis Samaras, appeared to have pulled the country back from the brink of what many feared would be a national catastrophe and averted a much deeper immediate crisis in Europe.

Greece: In Greece, Fears That Voting Won’t Resolve Turmoil | NYTimes.com

Greeks head to the polls on Sunday for the second time in two months with a pervasive sense of dread that any government that comes to power will fail to resolve the political and economic turmoil that threatens the country’s future — and the financial stability of Europe itself. If the establishment center-right party New Democracy ekes out a victory in a race that polls show as tight, Greece still faces weeks or months of negotiations with European lenders over the terms of its austerity program, which all parties agree are too onerous to enforce on its rapidly shrinking economy. A victory by the leftist party Syriza promises a more serious confrontation, especially with Germany, over how — and perhaps whether — to keep Greece in the euro zone.

Greece: Countdown to crucial election in Greece | euronews

With polls due to open in less than 24 hours, leftwing Syriza and the conservative New Democracy party are level-pegging in the race to win the election in Greece. The vote is being seen as a crucial indicator for the country’s future within the eurozone. Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras is the most likely candidate for the next prime minister of Greece. Although his party does not want to abandon the single-currency, it does reject the harsh austerity that comes with accepting the 130 billion euro bailout the country desperately needs.

Greece: Election apocalypse: Greeks hoard canned food | Herald Sun

Nervous Greeks are withdrawing up to 800 million euros ($1.01 billion) a day and stocking up on canned food as they fear the country will be forced to leave the eurozone after this Sunday’s election. Greek citizens fear the ramifications of a return to the country’s previous currency, the drachma, if the radical left-wing party and strong election contender SYRIZA wins this weekend. Bankers said daily withdrawals from the major banks were hitting €500-€800 million ($631.8 million-$1.01 billion), Reuters reported. Meanwhile, retailers say consumers are stocking up on non-perishable foods like pasta and canned goods.

Greece: Greeks Divided as Election Stalemate Looms Again | VoA News

The final day of polling before the repeat election in Greece on June 17 showed the two main contenders neck and neck. The economic crisis has divided Greeks, who appear split on the causes and solutions to the country’s financial meltdown. The political stalemate only appears to be entrenching these divisions. Industrial disputes do not get much worse than this.  The workers at the Hellenic Halyvourgia steel plant have been on strike for more than 200 days. Yorgos Sifonios is president of the workers’ union.  He showed letters of solidarity from unions across the world. “The Union has undertaken collective action, which has roused the whole of Greece’s working class. Our strike has become a landmark, a model of how all workers must fight,” Sifonios said. The factory’s owner laid off 50 workers last year, blaming falling demand.  The company declined an interview.

Greece: Caretaker cabinet named ahead of new elections | BBC

A cabinet of professors and diplomats has been sworn in in Greece to steer the debt-ridden eurozone state into repeat elections on 17 June. Panagiotis Pikrammenos, the senior judge who has taken over as prime minister, said the cabinet’s sole task was to lead the country into the polls. The 300 MPs elected on 6 May are taking their seats for a single day. Voters punished the two mainstream parties which agreed the cuts required under international bailouts. A 130bn euro (£104bn; $165bn) bailout was agreed earlier this year, following a 2010 package of 110bn euros.

Greece: Greeks set election date amid possibility of bank panic | CNN.com

Greece will hold new elections on June 17, state media reported Wednesday, amid a political and economic crisis that could have effects far beyond the country’s borders. News of the election date came as Greeks pulled hundreds of millions of euros out of the banking system amid fears that the country will not be able to stay in the European Union’s single currency. Just 10 days ago, Greeks voters punished the major parties for harsh budget cuts, leaving no party able to form a government. A caretaker administration led by a senior judge will run the country until the new vote.
Interim Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos was sworn in Wednesday. The president’s office said Cabinet ministers will take their oaths of office Thursday morning. The political deadlock is leading to fears that Greece will not have a government in place when it needs to make critical debt payments, which could in turn jeopardize its place in the eurozone, the group of 17 European Union countries that use the euro currency. And a Greek crisis could spread, one analyst warned.

Greece: Caretaker government will take Greece to risky repeat vote | Reuters

Greek political leaders meet on Wednesday to form a caretaker government that will lead the country into its second election in just over a month, with Greece’s euro membership at stake in a mounting crisis rocking world markets. Parties deeply divided over an unpopular EU-IMF rescue plan threw in the towel on Tuesday after nine days of failed attempts to put together a coalition, hitting heavyweight financial stocks as investors worried at the prospect that the euro zone weakling would remain in limbo for at least another month. Opinion polls show that voters enraged with five years of recession, record unemployment and steep wage cuts are likely to elect a parliament as fragmented as the one they chose on May 6. But the vote, probably in mid-June, may well tip the balance of power toward leftist parties opposed to the bailout conditions.

Greece: After talks collapse Greece to head to polls again | KGWN

Greece headed into a month of political uncertainty after power-sharing talks collapsed Tuesday, triggering new elections that could determine whether the country retains its tenuous position in Europe’s currency. Nine tortured days of fruitless talks to build a coalition government fueled increasing doubt that Greece can make enough reforms to prevent the world’s largest currency union from fracturing. “We expect the euro to remain under pressure as a result of this, and pressure on the borrowing costs, the bond yields, of countries like Spain and Italy to persist,” said John Bowler, director of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Country Risk Service. No date has been set for the elections, but they will have to be held by mid-June – the month in which Greece must make more spending cuts to ensure it meets the terms of its international bailout. A caretaker government will be appointed until then.

Greece: New Elections Loom – Leaders Remain Resistant to Unity Coalition | NYTimes.com

With Greece hurtling toward new elections and a possible exit from the euro zone, President Karolos Papoulias prepared to make a last-ditch appeal on Monday for the country’s sharply divided political parties to form a unity government even as his hopes for success all but evaporated over the weekend. The leaders of Greece’s main political parties remained adamant in their positions on the country’s debt agreement with foreign lenders, making a unity coalition appear impossible and new elections all but inevitable. Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left, refused on Sunday to take part in any government that would go through with the harsh austerity measures required in the debt deal, saying that Greek voters had resoundingly rejected austerity in elections on May 6. The parties that favor preserving the debt deal lack enough seats in Parliament to govern on their own, and Mr. Papoulias spent Sunday trying to persuade several smaller parties to join them.

Greece: Final bid to avert new polls | Fin24

The Greek president on Sunday held last-ditch talks with party leaders in a bid to form an emergency cabinet and avoid new polls that could endanger reforms and push the country out of the eurozone. Carolos Papoulias met for 90 minutes with the heads of the three parties that topped last Sunday’s inconclusive election – conservative New Democracy, Socialist Pasok, and radical leftist Syriza. He was to meet with leaders of smaller parties later in the day.

Greece: Protest by Greek Public Servants to Hamper May 6 polls | CRI

With six days to go before the snap general elections, Greek labor unions called local administration employees on Monday to join a week-long anti-austerity protest, threatening to short circuit the polls. Greece has reduced election spending for the upcoming contest by about 25 percent compared to the previous parliamentary elections held on October 2009, in the context of efforts to cut down on public expenses to counter an alarming debt crisis, according to Greek Interior Minister Tassos Giannitsis. It is estimated that Sunday’s ballots will cost the Greek state approximately 60 million euros (79.38 million U.S. dollars).

Greece: Detention camp for immigrants opened as election looms | Euronews/Reuters

Greece opened its first purpose-built detention centre for illegal migrants on Sunday in Athens, a week before a national election where illegal immigration has emerged as a key issue. About 130,000 immigrants cross the country’s porous sea and land borders every year, the vast majority via Turkey, and the authorities are forced to release those who are arrested because of a lack of permanent housing. With Greece in its fifth year of recession and worries over rising crime levels, illegal immigration has become a major issue in the run up of the May 6 election. The once-obscure far-right Golden Dawn, which wants to deport all immigrants, is among the parties that has benefitted most from the mood among voters, and is expected to win its first seats in parliament.

Greece: Recession-Wracked Greece Nears Vote That May Decide Fate in Euro | Bloomberg

Greece is entering the home stretch of its first election campaign since becoming a global financial pariah and the polls show no party gaining a mandate to enforce the austerity policies needed to stay in the euro. The final surveys, published on April 20, showed as many as 10 parties with a chance of winning seats in the May 6 vote. The two biggest, traditional rivals New Democracy and socialist Pasok, may be forced into a coalition. The country needs a functioning government to ensure that it continues to receive rescue funds to keep its economy afloat.

Greece: Election Spending to Be Cut by 20% to 60 Million Euros | Bloomberg

Greece will pay 20 percent less to hold a general election on May 6 than it cost in 2009, as the government tries to cut down on spending in a second year of austerity measures. The May 6 vote will cost more than 60 million euros ($79 million), according to initial estimates by the country’s Interior Ministry. Greece’s Supreme Court will announce tomorrow those parties taking part in the election. A total 9.85 million citizens are eligible to vote in one of the 20,560 polling stations in the country, that is 360,000 more than in 2009, Interior Minister Tassos Yannitsis said at a press conference in Athens today.

Greece: Election a puzzle that could derail bailout | chicagotribune.com

Greek voters are unlikely to pick a clear winner in a snap election that is expected to send a record number of parties to parliament next month and test the international bailout keeping the country afloat. Political analysts say the outcome of the May 6 election is hard to predict. The conservative New Democracy party is seen ahead but not by enough to take sole charge of the indebted euro zone member. This could lead to days or weeks of negotiations while it forges a coalition with the Socialist PASOK party to impose austerity and reforms to meet the terms of a second 130 billion euro bailout from Europe and the International Monetary Fund. “It’s a great puzzle,” said Theodore Couloumbis of the ELIAMEP think tank. “I hope the pro-bailout parties will be able to form a government. This is the most likely scenario.”

Greece: Greece election announced for 6 May | BBC News

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has called elections on 6 May, after five months of technocratic government. Mr Papademos, an economist, was made prime minister last November to help steer Greece through its debt crisis. He told a cabinet meeting that the government had left behind “an important legacy” and would continue its work during the election campaign. After asking President Karolos Papoulias to dissolve parliament, he will then speak on national TV. The election will be Greece’s first since the start of the debt crisis that has led to drastic spending cuts and violent protests. Opinion polls suggest parties opposed to austerity could make big gains. The BBC’s Mark Lowen in Athens says the 6 May date comes after months of speculation and raises the prospect of a short and highly-charged campaign.

Greece: Election date to be set in Holy Week | Athens News

The precise date of the general elections will be finalised during Holy Week, which this year starts on April 9, the government spokesman said on Monday. Speaking on SKAI TV, Pantelis Kapsis said on Monday, adding that nothing has changed with regard to the proposed dates, which are April 29 or May 6. Kapsis emphasised his view that the work of government must continue before and after the elections, adding that there is no room for slackness. “The impression must not be created among the public that the difficulties have passed,” Kapsis said.