Conservative Victory in Greece Ends Ten Years of Liberal Rule

Scotsman ^

[GulliverSwift]

"PA"

Greece’s conservatives won parliament elections today to return to office after a decade.

Their win came after Socialist leader George Papandreou conceded defeat.

“New Democracy won the elections,” Papandreou said. “We will help the effort for the Olympic Games ... a very big moment for our country.”

Papandreou conceded the election after various exit polls – carried by private and state-run television – gave Costas Caramanlis’ New Democracy party a lead hovering around 5 percentage points ahead of the Socialists. All exit polls had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5%t

Early returns also showed the Socialists headed for defeat.

The conservatives led by 47-year-old Caramanlis began celebrating on the strength of the figures.

Some leading Socialists acknowledged that the results looked bleak.

“The estimation so far is a clear defeat,” said Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who is the government’s chief Olympic planner.

Former Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis said “it appears that New Democracy has won”.

If the exit polls are confirmed by the vote count, it would give the conservatives an overwhelming majority in the 300-seat parliament. Under the Greek system, the winning party takes the lion’s share of seats.

The elections put voters at a clear crossroads: Stick with the decade-old Socialist establishment or turn to the inexperienced conservatives.

Both parties expressed confidence of victory before polls closed at 7pm (1700 GMT).

The conservative New Democracy party had been consistently ahead in opinion polls with the Socialists widely perceived as rife with corruption, inefficiency and political arrogance after leading the country for all but three years since 1981.

The Socialists began to claw back last month by turning to their roots – handing the leadership over to popular former foreign minister, George Papandreou, the 51-year-old American-born son of the party’s charismatic founder.

A come-from-behind win for the Socialists – now appearing unlikely – would deepen the party’s dominance over Greek affairs and extend the political dynasty of the Papandreou family to a third generation.

For New Democracy – which governed from 1990-93 – the election is seen as a referendum on its relevance. Victory would signal the end of the Socialist grip and show important changes in Greek attitudes, which have been heavily influenced in favour of the left since the collapse of the 1964-74 military dictatorship.

“This is the day of the voters and we have absolute confidence in their judgment,” Caramanlis said after voting in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

But there was one certainty: The winner must immediately confront the huge challenges ahead to pull off a successful Olympics this summer.

Many projects for the August 13-29 Games remain seriously behind schedule, including a glass-and-steel roof planned for the main stadium. The government must also make sure the unprecedented 800 million dollar (£432m) security network keeps pace with possible threats. Joint US-Greek military exercises are scheduled to begin on Wednesday to train for possible terrorist attacks during the games, including hijackings and hostage taking.

Caramanlis has promised to keep key Olympic planning personnel if he takes over.

Caramanlis – who is also the scion of a well-known Greek political family – has promised smaller government, less bureaucracy and fewer taxes. He has also pledged more funds for social welfare, education and health.

New Democracy was founded in 1974 by his uncle and namesake, former premier and president Constantine Caramanlis.

Voting is compulsory in Greece, which has a population of 11 million people. There are nearly 10 million registered voters – a large number attributed to an ageing population and the many Greeks living abroad.

Parties need at least 3 percent of the vote to gain a seat in parliament. The Greek Communist Party is expected to clear the threshold. The Left Coalition is struggling to retain a place in the chamber.

But some exit polls also showed an ultra-nationalist and anti-immigrant party, Laos, with the possibility of reaching parliament.

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[GulliverSwift]

Caramanlis – who is also the scion of a well-known Greek political family – has promised smaller government, less bureaucracy and fewer taxes. He has also pledged more funds for social welfare, education and health.

So, he's going to have both things? I don't know what society has ever been able to have that. Except Swarss-in-nator in Caleeefornia, where they can do it with quick-and-easy bonds.

Voting is compulsory in Greece, which has a population of 11 million people. There are nearly 10 million registered voters – a large number attributed to an ageing population and the many Greeks living abroad.

Ten million out of 11 million? No children? No wonder the liberals were able to keep in power so long, registering all those dead people. They probably had Aristocrates and Plato voting.

[GulliverSwift]

Can't they come up with their own word for "exit poll?"

[GulliverSwift]

For New Democracy – which governed from 1990-93 – the election is seen as a referendum on its relevance. Victory would signal the end of the Socialist grip and show important changes in Greek attitudes, which have been heavily influenced in favour of the left since the collapse of the 1964-74 military dictatorship.

Just like in America where FDR implanted this horrible liberal stuff that America wasn't able to recover from until 1994.

[HitmanLV]

1994? We still haven't recovered.

[GulliverSwift]

Well, it's a start. Bush's pandering to Mexican leeches doesn't help, though.

[EDINVA]

exit and poll are taken from ancient Latin and Greek

[marron]

What is conservatism in Greece?

[IonInsights]

The World edges in the Right direction.

[TheMole]

Expatriates are still registered voters, although I don't believe most Greeks living outside the country are actually allowed to vote. About 20% of the population are living outside Greece at any time (a figure not dissimilar to Canada, where at least 10% of the population is living in the United States). I can't say what the adult-to-child ratio actually is, but it's not 10 to 1.

[Salman]

Can't they come up with their own word for "exit poll?"

"Apotelesma" (the word on the left) "exit poll".

[raloxk]

I read in Balkan Ghosts that the socialist priminister when realising he was going to lose in the 1990s changed to a system of proportional representation instead of winner take all. The conservatives won a plurality but not a majority and couldnt form a stable govt

[GulliverSwift]

This should be good for the WOT since really the main reason that Euro countries have opposed Bush was that he was a conservative and not a socialist.

But ND could just be more of the worthless nationalist conservatism which is too common in Europe.

[ionian]

Totally wrong terminology.
The party which lost the elections against the Conservatives in Greece are not called "Liberals" and are not Liberals. They were called "Socialists" and are, either sophomoric Socialists or crooks. A salad of old-fashioned pseudo-progressive ideas with paleo-marxist sauce, sympathetic to the commies, winning the elections with childish populist slogans and false promises but especially by spreading to the people money taken from the budget, EU funds and heavy borrowing.
"Liberals" are not considered "left wingers" in Greece.
They are in fact the trendy and more modern branch of the right wingers. Something like the "Liberal Republicans" in the US.