Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (8)
Slideshow
Full Focus
Photos of the week
Our best photos from the past week. See more
Images of April
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Greek conservatives begin hunt for partners after vote
3:41am EDT
Russian police battle anti-Putin protesters
06 May 2012
George Lindsey, Goober in "The Andy Griffith Show," dead at 83
06 May 2012
Parents of two drowned Duck Boat riders fight liability cap
06 May 2012
Short party for Hollande after French election win
|
3:16am EDT
Discussed
150
One in seven thinks end of world is coming: poll
84
As America’s waistline expands, costs soar
74
April hiring seen picking up
Watched
"The Avengers" breaks a record, Lohan off the hook
Sun, May 6 2012
Hungry zoo lion faces off with unfazed toddler
Thu, May 3 2012
Beastie Boy Adam Yauch dead at 47
Fri, May 4 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Life in France
A look at the people and places that define France's unique culture. Slideshow
Strange and unusual
A recent sampling of strange and offbeat moments. Slideshow
Greek conservatives begin hunt for partners after vote
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Greek stock market falls sharply after elections
3:41am EDT
With 98.6% of vote in, main Greek parties fail to win majority
1:59am EDT
Greek conservative leader seeks pro-European govt
Sun, May 6 2012
Greece's Kouvelis sticks to pro-euro, anti-austerity stance
Sun, May 6 2012
Greece's young leftist Tsipras delivers political earthquake
Sun, May 6 2012
Greek far-right leader savors electoral success
Sun, May 6 2012
Analysis & Opinion
What happens if Hollande wins?
“There are human beings involved†in austerity debate
Related Topics
World »
Greece »
1 of 9. File photo of Greek conservative party leader Samaras greeting supporters during a pre-election rally in the town of Heraklion.
Credit: Reuters/Image Services/Stefanos Rapanis
By Karolina Tagaris and Dina Kyriakidou
ATHENS |
Mon May 7, 2012 3:41am EDT
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's conservative leader begins a frantic hunt on Monday for partners to forge a coalition that protects the country's place in the euro zone after angry voters rejected the two ruling parties for imposing harsh wage and spending cuts.
With counting from Sunday's vote almost complete, conservative New Democracy and Socialist PASOK, who are the only major parties supporting an EU/IMF bailout program that keeps Greece afloat, had won just over 32 percent of the vote and only 149 out of 300 parliament seats.
The resounding success of anti-bailout parties - ranging from the extreme-right Golden Dawn to the fiery Left Coalition - risks pushing Greece off the austerity path, cutting it off from its financial lifeline and endangering its place in the euro.
With Greece's parliament set to be the most fragmented for decades, coalition talks look difficult and could raise the possibility of a new election as soon as next month if they fail.
Greeks woke up to headlines like "Country in Limbo" from the Imerisia newspaper and "Nightmare of Ungovernability" in the Ta Nea daily.
"I'm hopeful but also scared," said 36-year-old Sofia Tsaliki, an office clerk. "New elections won't bring anything, but at least we are giving a message to the politicians and Europeans that they need to take proper notice and cannot ignore us anymore."
After taking the largest share of votes, New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras is expected to get the first shot at forming a government. But with PASOK beaten into third place, the two must woo one of five parties opposed to Greece's latest bailout package if they are to renew their alliance
Their options are limited. The anti-bailout Leftist Coalition that grabbed second place to emerge as a major election sensation happily crowed that German-led austerity had been defeated and called for a leftist alliance.
"Greek people gave a mandate for a new dawn with solidarity and justice, instead of barbaric bailout measures," its young leader, Alexis Tsipras, said to roaring crowds.
The tiny Democratic Left, led by soft-spoken Greek lawyer Fotis Kouvelis, and conservative rebel Panos Kammenos' Independent Greeks, were expected to be aggressively courted, but both have staunchly stuck to an anti-austerity platform.
The three groups favor Greece staying in the euro, but dismiss suggestions that their stance is contradictory.
They say they can renegotiate the bailout or argue that foreign lenders are bluffing when they threaten to withdraw aid if Greece fails to stick to austerity pledges.
Markets were rattled with the euro dropping to a three-month low and the index of leading European stocks down 0.8 percent.
As results trickled in, Samaras called for a pro-European national unity government that would keep Greece in the euro zone. PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos also called for a unity government, saying his party had paid the price for handling the sovereign debt crisis.
"LIVING AS BEGGARS"
New Democracy polled just below 19 percent and PASOK a humiliating 13.2 percent, while the anti-bailout Left Coalition captured 16.8 percent.
That is a far cry from the 2009 election, when PASOK won a landslide victory with 43.9 percent against New Democracy's 33.5 percent, and the Left Coalition had just 4.6 percent.
In another indication of the extent of public anger, the ultranationalist Golden Dawn - which denies it is neo-Nazi - was poised to take 7 percent of the vote.
This would be the first time such a party had entered parliament since the fall of a military dictatorship in 1974.
"I'm shocked they got into parliament. I wasn't expecting it, it's frightening. I think it was an irresponsible vote. We Greeks aren't fascists," said 74-year-old Panos Alexopoulos.
Under the constitution, Greek President Karolos Papoulias will give the biggest party three days to form a government. If it fails, the next two largest groups get a chance. If they all fail, new polls would be called about three weeks later.
Greece faces an acid test as soon as next month when it must give parliamentary approval for over 11 billion euros in extra spending cuts for 2013 and 2014 in exchange for more aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
That looks like a tough task even if a new government can be formed in time. Several analysts said the unprecedented fragmentation of the vote could mean weeks of instability and force another election.
Othon Anastasakis, director of southeast European studies at Oxford University told Reuters: "Greeks are sending a very strong message abroad, which is enough with austerity."
THREATS IGNORED
The Greek electoral shock coincided with the victory of Socialist Francois Hollande in France's presidential election and was likely to add to pressure for resistance to German-led austerity policies.
Italian technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti, who faces increasing resistance to austerity at home, phoned Hollande and other European leaders to push for pro-growth policies.
International lenders and investors fear success for the anti-bailout parties could push Greece to renege on the terms of the program, risking a hard sovereign default and dragging the euro zone back into the worst crisis since its creation.
Euro zone paymaster Germany has said there would be "consequences" to an anti-bailout vote. The EU and IMF insist whoever wins the election must stick to austerity if they want to receive the aid that keeps Greece afloat.
But Greece's voters dismissed that threat.
(Additional reporting by Harry Papachristou, Karolina Tagaris, Deepa Babington, Ingrid Melander, Lefteris Papadimas and George Georgiopoulos.; Writing by Dina Kyriakidou and Deepa Babington; Editing by Elizabeth Piper/Mike Peacock)
World
Greece
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (8)
theJoe wrote:
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.