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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Tuesday, May 08, 2012 :::
From Athens News:
4.35pm Final Parliamentary seat distribution
New Democracy 108
Syriza 52
Pasok 41
Independent Greeks 33
KKE 26
Golden Dawn 21
Democratic Left 19
New Democracy has generally been the major party of the right and Pasok of the left, such as they are in Greece. I'm pretty sure they're the only two on that list that support adhering to the deal they made with the troika, so there was talk before the election of their attempting to form a coalition, but they're two seats shy of being able to support a confidence vote on their own. The other 151 are also unlikely to team up, which probably means an election again next month.
The CW is that a new election is likely to be won by the hard left Syriza, which will not be in a mood to bargain with Europe; I wonder if New Democracy can broker a deal with Pasok, the Independent Greeks (which broke away from New Democracy on the issue of the bailout plan), and the troika by pointing out that if the troika won't renegotiate now, they won't get a better deal after new elections, and that if the Independent Greeks don't support a plan, the hard left will form the next government. But I'm not sure the Independent Greeks and the troika can find any room for agreement, especially in the time frame that we're talking about, and the Independent Greeks are probably hoping to displace New Democracy as the party of the center-right in the next election.
My preferred (center-right) party is the Democratic Alliance, which got about 2.5% of the vote. A party needs 3% to win seats in parliament. I don't even know their position on the bailout deal, but they have some specific proposals to promote economic growth without spending money, and I'd like to see the conversation move in that direction.Labels: Greece
::: posted by Steven at 2:57 PM
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