Be sure to click the
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link on the Guardian page.
It's about 5:10PM in Athens as I write this. Polls close in two hours. This blog post will "float" to the top for a few hours while results are reported.
UPDATE: from the Guardian live blog, something under an hour ago (all times are London time; commentary is in blog order, newest on top):
8.26pm: Samaras has just made his speech.
... [Main points of speech presented here; please read at The Guardian.]
He summarised his speech in English:
His party would honour commitments to the EU.
It was a victory for all Europe.
A call for all political parties that share objectives to form government.
Sacrifices of Greek people will be reflected.
Determined to do what it takes and do it fast.
8.16pm: Not a smooth start. Samaras is poised to make his speech but is having problems with the microphone.
8.13pm: Amid a busy press scrum New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras has arrived in Syntagma Square in Athens, ahead of a victory speech.
8.09pm: The parties in Greece it seems have accepted a win for New Democracy in Greece.
Alexis Tsipras from Syriza has reportedly called Antonis Samaras to offer his congratulations.
It seems that Syriza may be planning to mount a strong opposition rather than wait to see if New Democracy can form a coalition government. Even if it fails.
Now they have the pleasure [/snark] of forming a government; that's the nature of parliamentary democracy. It looks like Greece will be committed to austerity; I don't see how that can work, but I will await Enfant's commentary on the result.
AFTERTHOUGHT: here is one thing presumably all Greeks can be happy about:
Greece pulled off an unexpected win against Russia in the European Championships.If you think sports obsession is a primarily American phenomenon... think again!
UPDATE: Krugman has an analysis that makes sense to me. "And then what?" indeed!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteAfter the two former major parties were defeated, they both talked "renegotiation".
But as you have already written, Samaras promised that his party would honor commitments to the EU!
No renegotiation!
Please have a look to the results:
http://edlhm.livejournal.com/15739.html
It now 02:50 am Greek time and I am really tired and disappointed.
Enfant, my heart goes out to you. All too frequently, in our household as in yours, election nights are cheerless times; even the best of them are only partial victories, and most are not even that. I can understand your disappointment, so I'm not going to paste a smile on my face and tell you to "be of good cheer." All one can do is follow how things proceed from this point, and continue the battle as best you are able. Have a glass of wine (the Greek wines I have had are quite potent!) and try to sleep if you can.
ReplyDeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteI do not know if you'd like to display the pie that I sent you, with the rating and the seats of the parties (I have turned it into English for you).
For the time being, we have a sick person at home (probably in her last days, no more than one to two weeks), I have a lot of work (tests and students' works and theses to correct), I am exhausted... Chronic fatigue "claims" me and for some time I'll stop writing and commenting..
Thanks for your kind words and understanding.