Pivotal Greek election too close to call
ATHENS |
(Reuters) - Greece's election, which has captured the eyes of the world, is too close to call with the conservative New Democracy party barely ahead of radical leftist SYRIZA in a vote that could decide whether the country stays in the euro zone.
A joint exit poll by five pollsters, published as voting closed on Sunday, showed New Democracy taking between 27.5 percent and 30.5 percent of the vote. SYRIZA was essentially level with 27-30 percent, followed by the PASOK Socialists taking 10-12 percent of the vote.
SYRIZA has vowed to tear up the terms of an EU/IMF bailout package keeping Greece from bankruptcy, potentially sending the country crashing out of Europe's single currency. New Democracy broadly backs the bailout, as does PASOK.
The party that comes in first secures a dividend of 50 parliamentary seats which will be crucial to its chances of forming a new government. Another pollster refused to call the result because it was too close.
Exit polls in an earlier May 6 election, which produced stalemate, gave a good indication of the way the vote had gone. The official projection, which is expected at 9.30 p.m. (1830 GMT), was very close to the final result.
"Greeks voted with emotion and not with reason, this is why you see these numbers," said manufacturing worker Evangelos Datsos, 60, at a New Democracy kiosk in Syntagma Square.
At SYRIZA's scruffy headquarters in a central Athens square, party officials greeted the exit polls with excitement.
"We are optimistic that we are going to be the biggest party," said Syriza press assistant Andreas Kandzsis after the first numbers were flashed onto TV screens.
Greece's lenders say a new government must accept the conditions of a 130-billion-euro ($164 billion) Greek bailout agreed in March or funds will be cut off, driving Athens into bankruptcy.
A Greek euro exit has the potential to unleash shocks that could even break up Europe's single currency and plunge the global economy into chaos.
World leaders gathering at a G20 summit starting in Mexico on Monday will be watching with alarm.
"If we were in the United States, we would say it's too close to call and decline to publish a forecast," said Costas Panagopoulos of pollster Alco.
Central banks from major economies stand ready to take steps, including coordinated action, to stabilize markets if the election triggers a financial storm or public panic, G20 sources told Reuters last week.
"LAST CHANCE FOR OUR COUNTRY"
Most smaller parties have indicated they want a government no matter what, saying the country cannot withstand another election.
All the main parties say they will keep Greece in the single currency, but SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras believes he can renegotiate the deal. He is betting that European leaders cannot afford the financial market turmoil that could be unleashed by cutting a member of the euro zone loose.
Tsipras, a 37-year old former communist student radical, has shot from obscurity to global celebrity in a matter of weeks.
On the right, establishment heir and New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras says rejection of the EU/IMF bailout would mean a return to the drachma and even greater calamity, although he too wants to ease some aspects of the package.
Many economists believe Greece cannot hope to deliver an austerity programme designed to radically cut debt given it will drive it ever deeper into recession. But its euro zone peers are prepared only to tinker with the deal and then only with a government firmly committed to the bailout.
Greece should be given a chance to renegotiate the terms of its 130 billion-euro international bailout if it means keeping the country in the euro zone, the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
"It is a scenario I see (as) likely and if that is the condition presented for Greece to stay and then move on, I would say it is probably something that should be attempted," Angel Gurria said in an interview ahead of the Group of 20 summit.
Opinion polls show Greeks, weary and disillusioned after five years of deep recession, overwhelmingly favor remaining in the euro, but there is bitter anger over repeated rounds of tax hikes, slashed spending and sharp cuts in wages and pensions.
Many voters are also furious with New Democracy and the other traditional ruling party, PASOK, blaming them for decades of corruption and waste which have left them with a ruined economy and one of the heaviest debt burdens in the world.
"I voted for the bailout because these are the terms that will keep us in Europe," said 66-year-old English teacher Koula Louizopoulou after casting her ballot in Athens, hinting that she had chosen New Democracy.
"It's the first time I feel depressed after voting, knowing that I voted again for those who created the problem, but we don't have another choice," she added.
An unexpected 1-0 victory over Russia by the Greek national soccer team at the Euro 2012 championships on Saturday provided a boost to voters' spirits. But there was little sign of enthusiasm at the polling stations.
"I voted with a heavy heart, for the first time for someone I don't believe in, but I hope he will keep us in Europe," said Orestis Barkas, 70, a retired lawyer, after voting in the leafy middle class Athens suburb of Psihiko.
"This is the last chance for our country."
($1 = 0.7939 euros)
(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou; Writing by Matt Robinson and James Mackenzie, editing by Mike Peacock)
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