Greece heads to the polls under pall of fire tragedy
Monday, 17 September 2007
ATHENS, Sept 16 (AFP): Nearly ten million Greeks were to vote today for a new government in general elections held in the aftermath of a national fire tragedy which cast a pall on the entire campaign.
After one of the briefest electoral races in decades, pollsters expected a neck-and-neck run between the ruling conservative New Democracy party and the opposition Pasok socialists.
For although the ND party led by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis carried a slim lead into Sunday's decider, an unusually high number of undecided voters and general alienation over the fires that killed over 60 people makes this election impossible to call.
The 20,623 polling stations were scheduled to open across the country from 0400 to 1600 GMT. Exit polls are expected to be released after 16H00 GMT. Result projections are expected around 1930 GMT. Karamanlis, 51, seeks a second four-year term on the strength of economic reforms that cut the deficit and unemployment and kept the economy growing at around four percent of GDP per year.
He called for early elections in mid-August, before the fires struck, for a new mandate to continue reforms which must urgently include an overhaul of Greece's moribund pensions system.
The socialists led by 55-year-old George Papandreou, formerly foreign minister until 2004, have accused the PM of failing to protect Greece from the fires and of neglecting promises to combat corruption.
Both parties are desperate to garner at least 42 percent of the vote, a necessary condition for outright majority under a more proportional electoral law taking effect for the first time in this election.
With a lead of 1-2 parliamentary seats now critical, both Karamanlis and Papandreou have appealed for a broad voter turnout.
Around 76 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in 2004, one percent higher than in 2000.
The 2007 race is also expected to see a far-right party enter the Greek parliament for the first time in 26 years.
Voting is compulsory in Greece for citizens aged 18-70, though absence can be excused under special circumstances such as distance of residence. A 2001 constitutional revision did away with sanctions for abstention, which were never enforced in recent years.
After one of the briefest electoral races in decades, pollsters expected a neck-and-neck run between the ruling conservative New Democracy party and the opposition Pasok socialists.
For although the ND party led by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis carried a slim lead into Sunday's decider, an unusually high number of undecided voters and general alienation over the fires that killed over 60 people makes this election impossible to call.
The 20,623 polling stations were scheduled to open across the country from 0400 to 1600 GMT. Exit polls are expected to be released after 16H00 GMT. Result projections are expected around 1930 GMT. Karamanlis, 51, seeks a second four-year term on the strength of economic reforms that cut the deficit and unemployment and kept the economy growing at around four percent of GDP per year.
He called for early elections in mid-August, before the fires struck, for a new mandate to continue reforms which must urgently include an overhaul of Greece's moribund pensions system.
The socialists led by 55-year-old George Papandreou, formerly foreign minister until 2004, have accused the PM of failing to protect Greece from the fires and of neglecting promises to combat corruption.
Both parties are desperate to garner at least 42 percent of the vote, a necessary condition for outright majority under a more proportional electoral law taking effect for the first time in this election.
With a lead of 1-2 parliamentary seats now critical, both Karamanlis and Papandreou have appealed for a broad voter turnout.
Around 76 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in 2004, one percent higher than in 2000.
The 2007 race is also expected to see a far-right party enter the Greek parliament for the first time in 26 years.
Voting is compulsory in Greece for citizens aged 18-70, though absence can be excused under special circumstances such as distance of residence. A 2001 constitutional revision did away with sanctions for abstention, which were never enforced in recent years.