Posted on 09/16/2007 1:34:57 PM PDT by knighthawk
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's ruling conservatives appeared headed on Sunday for a narrow election victory that may complicate economic reform efforts after a campaign overshadowed by deadly forest fires and scandals.
Early official results, which had yet to reflect voting in large urban areas, showed the conservative New Democracy winning about 45 percent of the ballots.
Exit polls earlier showed the ruling party winning a thin parliamentary majority that may make it hard for it to tackle the difficult reforms aimed at bringing the euro zone's second poorest member in line with its partners.
Conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and socialist leader George Papandreou, both heirs to prominent political dynasties, seemed to lose support to smaller parties.
An exit poll by the Kapa Research polling company, conducted for Reuters and To Vima newspaper, showed the ruling New Democracy party winning 41.9 percent of the vote and 152 seats in the 300-seat parliament.
In its 2004 landslide victory, which ended 11 years of socialist rule, New Democracy won 45.36 percent of the vote and 165 seats in the house.
"We won, we won," said Thanassis Papasotiriou, 38, an IT expert, as he bought a party flag from a stand in central Athens. "But we have to think about how we can win back the voters we lost. We have to show that we got the message."
With about 10 percent of ballots counted the Socialist PASOK party was in second place with 38.64 percent of the vote. The exit poll, which has a 1 percent margin of error, showed it winning 38.4 percent and 103 seats in parliament. PASOK won 40.55 percent of the vote and 117 seats in 2004.
CELEBRATIONS START
Although official results were still far from conclusive, New Democracy supporters were clogging Athens, honking horns and waving party flags.
"We got another four years and that's what matters," said housewife Maria Kanelopoulou, 49, as she joined thousands celebrating in central Athens Syndagma square.
Political analysts said PASOK appeared unable to capitalise on the government's woes, with many voters not ready to forgive the socialists for their own scandals while in power.
Smaller parties were seen getting a substantial boost, with the far-right LA.O.S, entering parliament for the first time.
"The recent events, the ecological and human disaster, turned voters even more towards smaller parties," said Kapa Research consultant Gerasimos Moschonas. "The crucial political point is whether there will be a parliamentary majority. Based on the exit polls there will be, but it may be marginal."
The election was seen as key for the pace of economic reforms such as unpopular privatisations and shoring up an ailing pension system. Some analysts said the conservatives' majority may be too thin to pursue difficult reforms ahead.
"The good news is that New Democracy is the party that will continue its supply side economic reforms at least to a larger extent than the opposition would have," said Theodor Schonebeck, an economic Deutsche Bank. "But it's not a very comfortable majority, which makes it a little difficult."
Karamanlis called the early vote confident he could secure an easy victory, but criticism of the government's response to the forest fires which killed 65 people in August and a series of scandals appeared to have eroded support.
The nephew of the late statesman Constantine Karamanlis, he has cut deficits and created 200,000 jobs but unemployment remains above the EU average despite a healthy 4.4 percent GDP growth rate this year.
(Additional reporting by the Athens bureau)
Reuters (IDS)
16/9 2007 19:17
My Greek friend is one of the most rabid liberals I’ve ever met. I’m sure this will piss her off.My Greek friend, sadly passed, was one of the most rabid conservatives you could ever meet. He was arrested in Moscow for mooning Lenin's tomb.
end has 152 seats, clear majority.
(means they get the 40 bonus seats)
http://ekloges.ypes.gr/pages_en/index.html
Thanks for closely following this story. Very interesting.
I have friends who have been helping with the recovery. (NOT red cross and not the church to ensure aid gets to the need)
With 170 start points, most people there believe the fires were about politics, however it is interesting to see that the heaviest hit areas were “green zones” (socialists).
They burned their own neighborhood.
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