Greece: Conservatives win Greek election with promise to revive economy, unseating leftist Syriza

Conservatives are returning to power in Greece after defeating the leftist ruling party, which failed in its pledge to fight austerity. Now New Democracy offers more jobs and less taxes for austerity-weary Greeks.

The party of opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has claimed 39.74 percent of the vote, with Syriza trailing on 31.5 percent, the Interior Ministry said, after counting nearly 45 percent of the vote in the snap election.

If nothing changes significantly, New Democracy would claim between 155 and 167 seats in the 300-member parliament, which would enable it to form a government without political complications.

The turnout in the election was estimated at around 55 percent, which was blamed on the hot weather, as temperatures reached over 40 degrees in some parts of the country.

Syriza, which had been in the driving seat since 2015, has acknowledged its defeat, with Alexis Tsipras calling Mitsotakis to congratulate him.

“Today, with our head held high we accept the people’s verdict. To bring Greece to where it is today, we had to take difficult decisions (with) a heavy political cost,” the outgoing PM told the journalists.

Read more at: Conservatives win Greek election with promise to revive economy, unseating leftist Syriza — RT World News

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Greece: Phone Poll by RT Indicates Most Germans are now in favor of Grexit

The Greek government was forced to backtrack after Berlin demanded an official explanation, saying the minister was “not expressing official government policy.”

The phone survey showed that only 11 percent of Germans believe that Syriza is conducting its negotiations with the rest of Europe in a trustworthy fashion.

he increasingly resentful national mood in Germany has been fueled by the Bild tabloid, which has been running a campaign with the slogan “NEIN” (“No”) – or rather, “No more concessions for the Greeks.” With a daily circulation of 2.6 million copies, Europe’s best-selling daily newspaper is influential not just with the masses, but also with the country’s ruling coalition.

Read more: Most Germans are now in favor of Grexit – survey — RT News

Greece And The Euro - by John Palmer

Few expressions are more abused among commentators than the description of a pending meeting of European Union heads of government as “a make or break summit.” But given the Greek-Euro area turmoil and the deepening military conflict in eastern Ukraine, the European Council meeting which begins today in Brussels was always likely to be seen by some in these terms.

However neither Greece’s long-term place in the Euro-area nor the alarming tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine will be fully and finally resolved at this meeting. Of course the two crises will dominate the discussions of the European Union leaders but the auguries of eventual agreement remain mixed.

The overnight meeting of Euro area finance ministers produced no progress at all over Greece’s call for a change in the terms of its bail out agreement with the Euro-area. But there were optimistic hints from a meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany about progress towards a new ceasefire in eastern Ukraine but no confirmation of any firm agreement.

The election of the left-wing Syriza in Greece has thrown a time bomb into the economically stagnant waters of the EU single currency Euro-area. The Greek government has shocked some other Euro-area countries, by pointing out that the endless austerity imposed on Greece will not – indeed cannot – achieve the desired reduction of its debts to the EU and the IMF. They have made it clear that the Greek people’s patience with this mindless strategy is exhausted.

Many international economic experts who have examined the Greek situation in detail tend to agree with Athens. There have been influential appeals for a compromise between the Euro-area governments and the Greek government over its demands for an easing of its debt burden, more time to meet its repayments and a formula tying future repayments to an improvement in Greek economic growth.

But influential doctrinaires – notably in Germany – insist that the Greeks continue with their economic hair shirt, whatever the poverty and injustice inflicted on the Greek people. Some right wing and populist politicians seem even prepared to push Greece out of the Euro-area if Athens will not toe the line. Fortunately Germany’s partners did not take such a negative stance when agreeing to German debt relief in the 1950s.
Can Alexis Tsipras - here with EU Commission President Juncker - convince his fellow heads of governments to change course at the upcoming leaders' summit? (photo: © European Union 2015)

Can Alexis Tsipras – here with EU Commission President Juncker – convince his fellow heads of governments to change course at the upcoming leaders’ summit?

Read more: Greece And The Euro

Greece: Yes, Europe will give in to Greece—but it won’t admit it

The coming face-off between Greece’s European creditors and the country’s new left-wing government is painted as an epic struggle between intractable foes, but it’s better to think of them as sharing a common goal: Reducing Greece’s daunting debt without admitting it to the rest of Europe.

Greece doesn’t want to be cut loose from the euro zone, but Germany and the rest of the EU will find it hard to keep it in without offering politically unpopular debt relief. As Greece’s new finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis of the Syriza party, put it, “we must offer Mrs. Merkel a way of packaging the new deal that she can then sell to her parliamentarians.”

The key thing to realize is that Greece’s problems date back far before Syriza came to spook the markets. The IMF’s most recent projection for Greece’s debt path is that it will decline from a horrendous 174% of GDP in 2013 to a hideous 128% by the end of the decade—but even that’s only if the country generates consistently high economic growth and runs a huge government surplus of around 4% of GDP for several years. Neither seems particularly likely, as private sector economists will tell you and even government ministers concede in private.

Read more: Yes, Europe will give in to Greece—but it won’t admit it – Quartz

Greece: Eurogroup leaves door open for Syriza to partially renegotiate ‘if necessary’

Monday’s Eurogroup meeting in Brussels had to deal with a potential crisis triggered by a victory in Greece for Syriza. This has led the group’s leading lights to predict a tough round of talks ahead, especially if the Greeks push agressively for debt forgiveness.

“We have common goals; ensuring that Greece as a nation can stand on its own two feet, clean up its finances, and become a jobs generator again. A Greece that is growing, and can pay its debts,” said the EU’s Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.

However all the initial reactions have sounded conciliatory with the Eurogroup’s president leaving a door open to easier debt terms for Athens.

“We have already done a lot to lift the debt burden for Greece over the last couple of years, in terms of interest, maturity and the length of the loans.

“If the Greeks commit to what we have agreed with, then, and if necessary – now, these words ‘if necessary’ refer to the debt sustainability, it’s too early to say – we’ve always said we would come back to debt sustainability issues after the completion of the fifth [bailout] review and that is still pending,” said Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Read more: Eurogroup leaves door open for Syriza to partially renegotiate ‘if necessary’ | euronews, economy

Greece: Greek radical-left leader vows to end Wall Street imposed 'humiliation and pain'

Greek leftist leader Alexis Tsipras promised on Sunday that five years of austerity, “humiliation and pain” imposed by international creditors were over after his Syriza party swept to victory in a snap election on Sunday.

Read more: Europe - Greek radical-left leader vows to end 'humiliation and pain' - France 24

Euro hits 11-year low after Syriza victory in Greece

The euro briefly fell as low as $1.1088 - the lowest level against the dollar in more than 11 years.

Traders says there is uncertainty about what happens next in Greece, as Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has pledged to renegotiate Greece's debts.

He has also vowed to reverse many of the austerity measures adopted by Greece in return for bailout deals.
"The troika for Greece is the thing of the past," he said after the election result, referring to the country's biggest international lenders - the European Union, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB).

Read more: BBC News - Euro hits 11-year low after Syriza victory in Greece

Elections: Greece’s Syriza would need 40 percent of vote for overall majority

A legislative election will take place in Greece on 25 January 2015 to elect all 300 members to the Hellenic Parliament in accordance with the constitution.

On 29 December 2014, after failing to elect a presidential candidate in the third round of voting with the required 180 votes, prime minister Samaras asked incumbent president Karolos Papoulias to dissolve the parliament. On 31 December, Papoulias formally dissolved the parliament by decree and set the new election to be held on 25 January and the new parliament to reconvene on 5 February 2015.

Voting is mandatory; however none of the legally existing penalties or sanctions have ever been enforced.

250 seats will be distributed on the basis of proportional representation, with a threshold of 3% required for entry into parliament. Blank and invalid votes, as well as votes cast for parties that fall short of the 3% threshold, are disregarded for seat allocation purposes. 50 additional seats will be awarded as a majority bonus to the party that wins a plurality of votes, with coalitions in that regard not being counted as an overall party but having their votes counted separately for each party in the coalition, according to the election law. Parliamentary majority is achieved by a party or coalition of parties that command at least one half plus one (151 out of 300) of total seats.​

Read Greece’s Syriza would need 40 percent of vote for overall majority | euronews, world news

Greek poll shows pro-bailout conservatives leading

If elections were held now, New Democracy would win 26.1 percent of the vote compared with SYRIZA's 23.7 percent, according to the MARC/Alpha survey conducted on May 15-17.

Based on this result, New Democracy would win 123 seats, the pollsters said. Combined with the 41 seats projected to be won by the Socialist PASOK, Greece's two major pro-bailout parties would command a 14-seat majority in the country's 300-strong parliament.

Polls last week had showed the anti-bailout SYRIZA placing first in the election, causing alarm across the EU. European leaders have said that unless the next Greek government is committed to the bailout, Greece would face certain bankruptcy and ejection from the euro.


Read more: Greek poll shows pro-bailout conservatives leading | Reuters