[DM Andy]

Originally Posted by blueisthecolour

Is there any specific reason why New Democracy got over a third of the seats with only 18% of the vote? That seems dodgy even to someone like me that lives under a FPTP system!

If the pro bail out parties form a government which is adamantly apposed by over 2/3rds of the electorate then the country is going to go into melt down.

The Greek system is PR for 250 seats with a bonus of 50 seats for the largest party. That works out fine when PASOK or New Democracy gets 43% of the vote and the other main party gets 41% but looks a bit silly here.

Look at the largest constituency (Athens B) for example.
SYRIZA 223,416 (9 seats)
New Democracy 126,967 (14 seats)
Independent Greeks 112,612 (5 seats)
Communists 98,725 (4 seats)
PASOK 92,913 (4 seats)
Golden Dawn 68,694 (3 seats)
Democratic Left 67,614 (3 seats)
Others 233,150

Compared to Athens B in the 2009 elections
PASOK 408,837 (20 seats)
New Democracy 270,562 (11 seats)
Communists 110,174 (5 seats)
SYRIZA 75,251 (3 seats)
Popular Orthodox Rally 73,789 (3 seats)
Others 66,931

[alanwarwic]

Originally Posted by sn_22

The irony here is that Greece basically seems to have assumed the upper hand in negotiations with the EU.

On the surface yes but its just as likely Greece will be sent into North Korea like wilderness.

Being tiny makes them easier to sacrifice and perversely this might also have been why their financial corruption was so stupidly overlooked.

[Sad_BB_Addict]

Sky News Newsdesk‏ @SkyNewsBreak

Greek conservative leader Samaras says he is unable to form coalition government

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by Sad_BB_Addict

Sky News Newsdesk‏ @SkyNewsBreak

Greek conservative leader Samaras says he is unable to form coalition government

And it was reported earlier that Syriza, the 2nd largest party, wouldn't enter into coalition with either New Democracy or PASOK, so I don't see how they'll form a government either.

[DM Andy]

Originally Posted by Zeus

And it was reported earlier that Syriza, the 2nd largest party, wouldn't enter into coalition with either New Democracy or PASOK, so I don't see how they'll form a government either.

I was expecting Samaras to fail, but was surprised that he returned his mandate so soon. Is there a chance that Tsipras could persuade PASOK to abandon the austerity program and get in with him? A SYRIZA/PASOK/Independent Greeks/Democrat Left government still wouldn't have a majority but if the Communists agree not to vote it down in no-confidence votes that could work, just. Could such a coalition survive long enough to return to the Drachma?

[C19th Fox]

Originally Posted by DM Andy

I was expecting Samaras to fail, but was surprised that he returned his mandate so soon. Is there a chance that Tsipras could persuade PASOK to abandon the austerity program and get in with him? A SYRIZA/PASOK/Independent Greeks/Democrat Left government still wouldn't have a majority but if the Communists agree not to vote it down in no-confidence votes that could work, just. Could such a coalition survive long enough to return to the Drachma?

I am surprised that Samaras has thrown in the towel - he has let down those that have supported him particularly in the Islands that need this resolving before the tourist season gets underway.

I am not convinced that a left coalition will be stable enough or strong enough to have an agreed line - I don't think a Government that relies on Pasok support will be that popular unless there is a dramatic change of policy from Pasok (leading to even more mistrust). They could perhaps change the electoral system as it is clear that this set of results with the largest party getting a bonus of 50 seats is unfair and without it a left coalition would be more workable proposition. However that cannot happen if they cannot form a Government so a prospect of a further election becomes a real possibility with the danger that the far right could gain even more ground. Equally though it could result in Syriza picking up more anti austerity votes to become the largest Party.

It may well be that no Greek Politician wants to negotiate a possible Euro exit enabling them to say that they were not given enough time to resolve the Political crisis by the nasty Germans when it happens. This could go on for months as the electorate knows what they don't want but don't know what they do want.

[DM Andy]

Update on the political situation in Greece - SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras failed in his efforts to form a government coalition so the mandate now passes to PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos. On the face of it Venizelos doesn't have a chance of doing any better than Samaras did, if he fails too, the President calls all the parties together and if that doesn't work, appoints a caretaker government to call and dissolve parliament.

It turns out that SYRIZA, even if they overtake ND in the next election would not receive the 50 seat bonus for being first. That's because SYRIZA, being a coalition of a number of smaller left wing groups isn't technically a Party. They could turn themselves into a Party before the next election but that might mean some elements of the coalition deciding to leave rather than be merged.

[blueisthecolour]

Originally Posted by DM Andy

Update on the political situation in Greece - SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras failed in his efforts to form a government coalition so the mandate now passes to PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos. On the face of it Venizelos doesn't have a chance of doing any better than Samaras did, if he fails too, the President calls all the parties together and if that doesn't work, appoints a caretaker government to call and dissolve parliament.

It turns out that SYRIZA, even if they overtake ND in the next election would not receive the 50 seat bonus for being first. That's because SYRIZA, being a coalition of a number of smaller left wing groups isn't technically a Party. They could turn themselves into a Party before the next election but that might mean some elements of the coalition deciding to leave rather than be merged.

I think it's clear what's going to happen in the next election. It's been shown that SYRIZA can't form a government, regardless of how well they do, so it's likely that enough people will switch to PASOK to make a pro bail out government with ND possible.