Greek Conservatives, Radical Left Party Neck-and-Neck-Exit Polls
17-Jun-2012
ATHENS--Greece's conservatives and radical left Syriza parties were in a statistical dead heat in a race too close to call, early exit polls showed Sunday, an outcome that could fuel investor fears over further political uncertainty in the 17-nation euro zone and coming just hours before the first Asia-Pacific markets open for trade.
According to the exit polls shown on the state-owned NET television channel just minutes after the ballots closed, the conservative New Democracy was estimated to have garnered between 27.5% and 30.5% of the vote, versus 27% and 30% for Syriza.
At stake isn't just control of Greece's 300-member parliament but potentially the fate of Europe's fragile 17-member currency bloc. The raging crisis has now spread to Spain, the euro zone's fourth-largest economy, forcing it earlier this month to ask for a bailout for its banks and even threatens to engulf Italy, severely testing the region's sovereign rescue firepower.
Greek voters face a choice between two competing visions of how their country should confront a tough austerity program demanded by European and international creditors in exchange for aid, but which has helped push the economy deep into recession and unemployment to record highs.
The vote has pit New Democracy party-which mostly supports the country's latest European-led bailout-against their leftist rival, Syriza, which wants to tear up the austerity program that came with it.
"There's a collision of two schools of thought with one side seeking to denounce the referendum and that Greece's creditors will be forced to accept it to save the euro; the other side saying that they can renegotiate the deal," said Giorgios Kyrtsos, a prominent newspaper editor and political commentator who is also a candidate with far-right wing party Laos. "Neither argument is valid and after the vote we'll have a hard landing to reality."
Official projections are expected at around 1830 GMT--when 25% of the vote is counted--which will also give an indication of how many seats each party will win in parliament. Who comes first is crucial: under Greek election law, the party with the most votes gets a 50 seat bonus in parliament giving it an unassailable advantage in forming a coalition government.
The exit polls also point to a fragmented parliament with no party likely to win an outright majority, setting off another contentious round of coalition talks as early as Monday. Ten days of coalition talks following an inconclusive vote May 6 failed to produce a stable government, forcing Sunday's second round.
Any new government will face Olympian hurdles as soon as it takes office, with a central administration threatened by a cash crunch within weeks, an economy in free fall and an angry public exhausted by two years of successive austerity measures.
Greece's reform program is also well off track, following weeks of political paralysis. The first task facing Sunday's winner will be to come up with EUR11.5 billion ($14.5 billion)--maybe more--of new austerity measures being demanded by the country's creditors but which could further inflame public opinion. |
