By Angelika Papamiltiadou

ATHENS (MNI) – Party leaders of conservative New Democracy, leftist
SYRIZA and Socialist PASOK, expected to get the first three positions in
today’s national parliamentary elections, are nervously awaiting the
final results of the Greek elections held Sunday to determine their
day-after policy.

According to the official preliminary results released by the
ministry of interior, New Democracy will wind up with some 20% of the
votes and receive the mandate to form a government. The socialist PASOK,
led by ex-Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, suffered a crushing
defeat, obtaining up to just 14% of the votes today versus 44% in the
2009 elections that took it to power.

The magnitude of the socialists’ defeat is highlighted in the
results from Ahaia County, a traditional fortress of PASOK, where former
Prime Minister George Papandreou has always been at the top of the
ballot. According to preliminary results, PASOK is receiving only 13% of
the votes there compared to over 45% in 2009, and Papandreou will be
elected member of parliament just barely.

The indisputable winner is leftist party SYRIZA, now the main
opposition party with up to 17% of the votes.

New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras stated that as the first
party, he would seek to form a coalition government, given no one
managed the necessary 50%-plus-one majority. He said a working majority
of 151 parliamentary seats – around 38% of the votes – and a coalition
with socialist PASOK is achievable.

In his statement, Samaras said that “today the Greek voters said no
to austerity with no end” and underlined that the country “must stay in
the eurozone but change the current fiscal policy”. These are his two
main goals, he said.

However, if New Democracy and PASOK fail to reach a combined 151
seats, Samaras will have the difficult task of finding a third ally from
the conservative front. However, all right wing parties have already
said they would refuse.

According to the official estimations based on the votes counted so
far, New Democracy and PASOK will get 149 seats together.

If Samaras fails to get the necessary support within three days,
the mandate to form a government will be given to the second party, and
so on.

“I am ready to take the initiative and form national unity
government. I have asked for an absolute majority but the people decided
differently. I will respect that. Today’s result reflects the
frustration of the Greek people for the dead-end economic policy that
had no growth prospect,” Samaras said.

But even if Samaras manages to find a few extra seats from a
smaller party, it is not clear at the moment whether PASOK leader,
Evangelos Venizelos will consent.

In his statement, Venizelos acknowledged his defeat but stressed it
was difficult to form a coalition government with the conservatives as
it would be too fragile. He suggested forming a government with as broad
a coalition as possible.

Furthermore, he said that the new government should be “pro euro”
in order to secure Greece’s membership in the eurozone.

Venizelos acknowledged that this “was a painful day for PASOK”,
saying his party had paid for assuming sole responsibility for the
austerity measures.

Leftist SYRIZA party leader Alexis Tsipras stated that he would
start working towards the formation of a government supported by parties
of the left, which oppose austerity measures and the EMU/IMF bailout
agreements.

If he gets the mandate to form a government, Tsipras stated that he
would “try and annul the current lending agreement”.

“Pro-austerity parties are now a minority and everyone should
accept that. Their signatures are not valid. It is clear that the
policies of [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel have failed”, Tsipras
said.

A total of 250 seats will be distributed on the basis of
proportional representation, with a threshold of 3% for entry into
parliament. The other 50 seats will be awarded to the leading party
majority achieved by a party or coalition of parties that command at
least one half plus one (151 out of 300) of total seats. Blank and
invalid votes, as well as votes cast for parties that fall short of the
3% threshold, are disregarded for seat allocation purposes.

The interior ministry said three parties are just around the 3%
limit and it could be hours before the number of seats for each party is
determined.

A_papamiltiadou@hotmail.com Athens bureau +30-6937100071

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