Greek Socialists On Track To Secure 160 Seats In Parliament

[Joanne98]

Source: WSJ

ATHENS (Dow Jones)--Greece's opposition socialist, or Pasok party, is on-track to securing a 160 seat majority in the country's 300 member parliament, according to early polling projections Sunday.

At a televised press conference by Greece's Interior Ministry, officials said that Pasok is poised to win 43.8% of the vote, against 33.9% for the incumbent New Democracy government.

The early estimates have a margin of error of plus or minus 0.3%, the officials said.


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091004-701824.html

[Vidar]

1. Good for the Greeks.

[Oregone]

6. Bad for America

Will this new government really be friendly to either of the pro-capitalist parties of America?

:)

[Vincardog]

9. Why should WE be abetting the pro-corporatist parties of America?

[Joanne98]

2. Socialists projected to beat conservatives

ATHENS, Greece — Greek voters angered by repeated scandals and a faltering economy ousted Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in an early election Sunday, returning the Socialists to power after five years of conservative governance, initial results indicated.

Final projections issued by the company carrying out the vote counting indicated that former foreign minister George Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or PASOK, would win with a landslide, gaining 43.8 percent of the vote with Karamanlis' New Democracy trailing with 33.9 percent.

If the figures are confirmed, the Socialists will be able to form a strong majority government with as many as 160 seats in the 300-member parliament, avoiding the need for a second round. It would also be New Democracy's worst ever election performance.

"This is a historic victory for PASOK, which means great responsibility for us," senior party official and former minister Evangelos Venizelos said outside party headquarters, surrounded by jubilant supporters cheering and waving PASOK flags depicting the party's symbol of a green rising sun.

Official results from 18.56 percent of votes counted showed the Panhellenic Socialist Movement ahead with 43.16 percent, compared to 36.07 percent for New Democracy.

In the last elections in 2007, the conservatives won with 41.8 percent compared to the Socialists' 38.1 percent, and had a marginal majority of 152 seats in parliament, later reduced to 151.

Karamanlis, 53, called the election just halfway through his second four-year term in a gamble that ultimately failed, saying he needed a strong new mandate to tackle Greece's economic woes. He had already been trailing in opinion polls when he called the election in early September, sparking criticism from within his own party.

Karamanlis stormed to power in 2004 to become the youngest prime minister in modern Greek history after more than a decade of socialist rule. He was re-elected in 2007, but quickly saw his popularity eroded by a series of major financial scandals, including a land-swap deal with a Greek Orthodox monastery that cost the state more than euro100 million ($145 million) and forced two of Karamanlis' close aides to resign.

Story continues below

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/04/greece-election-socialist_n_309085.html

[davidwparker]

3. self-delete

Oops. DU can't understand Greek characters.

[Ron Green]

4. "Greek Conservatives Concede Defeat"

I'd like to see this headline in the U.S.

[New Dawn]

5. K&R

[totodeinhere]

7. That kind of cancels out the recent conservative victory in Germany.

Of course, a so-called conservatives in Germany and other European countries are probably to the left of our Democratic Party.

(Edited for typo.)

[Kingofalldems]

8. The trumpeter of conservative victories will not like this one