May 6, 2012

Anti-austerity political forces gain; PASOK falls to 3rd

The 300 seat Greek parliament has been up-ended by the vote which has plunged PASOK from a landslide victory in 2009 to a third place finish behind New Democracy and Syriza.

The projected results are:

New Democracy 19.7% 110 Seats

Syriza 16.33% 50 seats

PASOK 13.54% 42 Seats

Independent Greeks 10.47% 32 Seats

KKE Communist 8.38% 26 Seats

Golden Dawn 6.89% 21 Seats

Dimar 6.04% 19 Seats

The Wall Street Journal is saying these results show Greek society at its most segmented since the end of the Junta in 1974. The multiplicity of parties that could hold seats means coalitions must be constructed, or a new round of voting will be forced.

The biggest shock may be the gains held by the anti-immigrant Golden Dawn party, which has a topsy-turvy history of beliefs and ideological and is typically described as neo-nazi.

Konstandaras at eKathimerini (Yesterday Strikes Back") says "Voters destroyed the 2-party system, fragmented the center and brought the extremes into the center of developments."

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