GREECE-VOTE/REACTION Greek Prime Minister says hopeful a president will be elected
Record ID:
328399
GREECE-VOTE/REACTION Greek Prime Minister says hopeful a president will be elected
- Title: GREECE-VOTE/REACTION Greek Prime Minister says hopeful a president will be elected
- Date: 17th December 2014
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (DECEMBER 17, 2014) (REUTERS) LAWMAKERS LEAVING AFTER VOTE (SOUNDBITE)(Greek) GREEK PRIME MINISTER, ANTONIS SAMARAS, SAYING: "We have two more ahead of us. We are hopeful a president will be elected. Conditions are difficult for the country and I am certain Greek lawmakers are aware that the country cannot afford adventures." LAWMAKERS LEAVING AFTER VOTE (SOUNDBITE)(Greek) SYRIZA OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER, ALEXIS TSIPRAS, SAYING: "The fear-mongering of recent days fell into a void. The strategy of fear collapsed. Tomorrow will be a new, more optimistic day because democracy cannot be blackmailed and soon the people will be the protagonists of the developments. There will soon be an exit and it will be created by democracy and the people." VARIOUS OF LAWMAKERS STANDING OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT AND TALKING (SOUNDBITE)(Greek) DEMOCRATIC LEFT PARTY LEADER, FOTIS KOUVELIS, SAYING: "The lawmakers of the Democratic Left party showed with their negative vote that these dead-end policies which have trapped the country and the people cannot continue. Democratic procedures will show the way and the course that the country should follow." LAWMAKERS AND MEDIA OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE)(Greek) INDEPENDENT GREEKS PARTY LEADER, PANOS KAMENOS, SAYING: "Democratic procedures will proceed towards the replacement of this government and the release of this country from foreign occupation that is being imposed by Berlin and the European Central Bank." LAWMAKERS AND MEDIA OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT AFTER VOTE
- Embargoed: 1st January 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Greece
- Country: Greece
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAALIWWZIJQQRMUSHPEE1TB58B3
- Story Text: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said he remained hopeful that parliament would elect a president, after failing on Wednesday (December 17) in the first round to elect his nominee and avert snap elections.
"We have two more ahead of us. We are hopeful a president will be elected. Conditions are difficult for the country and I am certain Greek lawmakers are aware that the country cannot afford adventures," Samaras told reporters after the vote.
Greek opposition Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras hailed the government's defeat in the first round of the presidential vote, saying the result showed a strategy of "fear-mongering" had failed.
"The fear-mongering of recent days fell into a void. The strategy of fear collapsed. Tomorrow will be a new, more optimistic day because democracy cannot be blackmailed and soon the people will be the protagonists of the developments. There will soon be an exit and it will be created by democracy and the people," said Tsipras.
Samaras' failure in the first round was not a surprise, but the final count of 160 lawmakers in his favour was at the lower end of estimates on the number of votes he was likely to garner ahead of a decisive vote on December 29.
Failure to elect a president triggers early elections, which polls show Syriza would win. The party, which promises to renegotiate Greece's European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, has long demanded snap polls.
The leader of Democratic Left, a small centre-left party whose lawmakers are expected to play a decisive role in the final round, but who voted against in this round, said Wednesday's result showed the country was likely to be heading for the polls.
"The lawmakers of the Democratic Left party showed with their negative vote that these dead end policies which have trapped the country and the people cannot continue. Democratic procedures will show the way and the course that the country should follow," party chief Fotis Kouvelis said.
The head of another small party that is expected to play a crucial role, the right-wing Independent Greeks, who voted against, also said the first result showed elections were most likely and Greece could then get rid of foreign dominance.
"Democratic procedures will proceed towards the replacement of this government and the release of this country from foreign occupation that is being imposed by Berlin and the European Central Bank," said Independent Greeks party leader Panos Kamenos.
The second round of the presidential vote takes place on December 23, and the final round on December 29. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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