- Title: GREECE: Electoral officials start counting ballots in crucial vote
- Date: 7th May 2012
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (MAY 6, 2012 ) (REUTERS) PEOPLE OUTSIDE POLLING STATION VOTER LOOKING AT LISTS ON WALL OUTSIDE POLLING STATION VARIOUS OF LATE VOTERS EXITING BOOTHS, CASTING BALLOTS ELECTORAL OFFICIALS SEATED AT REGISTRATION TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) VASSILIS PANTAZOPOULOS, 70, SAYING: "I, like every other Greek, expect a government that is reliable, that is honourable, and which will care about Greece and its people." VOTERS CASTING BALLOTS BALLOT PAPERS IN BALLOT BOX (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) MATINA, 44, PRIVATE COMPANY EMPLOYEE, SAYING: "What I hope is that this two-party polarisation is broken and there are multiple parties in parliament. I want a Greece like the one we used to have, more human, with rights, opportunities and solutions to problems." VARIOUS OF ELECTORAL OFFICIALS GOING OVER THE REGISTER AFTER CLOSING THE POLLING STATION ELECTORAL OFFICIAL UNSEALING BALLOT BOX VARIOUS OF ELECTORAL OFFICIAL TAKING OUT BALLOT PAPERS VARIOUS OF ELECTORAL OFFICIALS COUNTING BALLOTS BALLOT PAPERS ON DESK
- Embargoed: 22nd May 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Greece
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAE4YXZKFJ69Y1LNJ09RUG2X7F3
- Story Text: Vote-counting began in Greece on Sunday evening (May 6) after polls closed in the country's crucial elections.
According to exit polls, Greek voters, enraged by economic hardship, deserted governing parties in droves, raising deep uncertainty about the country's future in the euro zone.
Polls by six different pollsters indicated the only two parties supporting an EU/IMF bailout that is keeping Greece from bankruptcy would likely fall short of enough support to form a lasting coalition government.
The exit polls showed the conservative New Democracy party and Socialist PASOK, which have dominated Greece for decades, reaching a maximum of 37 percent of the vote combined.
In a stunning upset, a previously small leftwing party, the Left Coalition, was predicted to take around the same share of the vote as PASOK with 15-18 percent. In the previous election in 2009 they had less than five percent.
PASOK, which took 44 percent of the vote in a landslide victory in that election, was shown with between 14 and 18 percent, according to polls by Kapa Research for Reuters and a pool of five companies for Greek television stations.
New Democracy also appeared particularly hard hit with a vote share of 20 percent or below, compared to opinion poll predictions of around 25 percent.
In another indication of the extent of public anger, the extreme right Golden Dawn party was shown by the polls as taking an unprecedented six-eight percent of the vote. This would allow such a party to enter parliament for the first time since the fall of a military dictatorship in 1974.
The exit polls showed Greeks, fuming at record unemployment, collapsing businesses and steep wage cuts, had ignored warnings that a vote against the harsh terms of the bailout would push Greece towards bankruptcy.
"I, like every other Greek, expect a government that is reliable, that is honourable, and which will care about Greece and its people," said last-minute voter and 70-year-old pensioner, Vassilis Pantazopoulos.
"What I hope is that this two-party polarisation is broken and there are multiple parties in parliament. I want a Greece like the one we used to have, more human, with rights, opportunities and solutions to problems," added another voter, 44-year-old Matina.
First preliminary results are expected in a few hours.
"You already have a picture with the exit polls that have been announced. I would say this is a shadow of the truth. In a period of two to three hours we will have the full truth. We will see it, and I hope that these elections and the picture that will come out will be able to give us prospects for the future of the country," said Interior Minister Tassos Giannitsis at a vote-counting centre in the Interior Ministry.
If the exit poll predictions are confirmed by official results, the election could plunge Greece into new political turmoil, reigniting a euro zone debt crisis first detonated by Athens in 2009 and starting it down a path that could take it out of the euro. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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