Greeks were casting ballots yesterday in a snap general election likely to produce a change in government, as voters angered by scandals and a foundering economy were expected to reject the conservatives in favor of the opposition Socialists.
Polling stations opened at 7am and were to close at 7pm in the election conservative Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis called just halfway through his second four-year term.
Karamanlis, 53, and opposition leader George Papandreou, 57, differ radically in their approach to Greece’s economic woes, with Karamanlis advocating austerity and Papandreou saying a stimulus package is needed to jump-start the economy.
Papandreou’s Panhellenic Socialist Movement, known by its Greek acronym PASOK, headed into the polls leading Karamanlis’ New Democracy party by between 6 and 7 percentage points in the last opinion polls published two weeks earlier, before a pre-election ban came into effect.
But it was unclear whether Papandreou would be able to win an overall majority that would allow him to form a government.
If no party wins enough votes to gain 151 seats in the 300-member parliament and none can form a coalition with a smaller party, new elections will have to be called, likely next month.
Both are scions of political families.
Papandreou’s father, Andreas, and grandfather, George, were both prime ministers at various times between the 1940s and the 1990s, while Karamanlis’ uncle and namesake was prime minister five times between 1955 and 1980 as well as president twice.
The election campaign ended on Friday with Karamanlis’ final rally in central Athens before of tens of thousands of supporters.
The prime minister once again accused his opponent of being an irresponsible politician who makes “outlandish promises, has no plan and ... risks an economic adventure.”
Instead, he proposed a “sensible plan” so “we can get out of the economic crisis stronger in 2011,” offering himself as a leader who would not hesitate to enact painful measures.
Papandreou has hammered Karamanlis’ economic record, accusing him of squandering an opportunity for growth after the 2004 Athens Olympics, cutting back on public investment and letting public debt grow unchecked. He has proposed a stimulus package to jump-start the economy instead of Karamanlis’ freeze on spending and wages.
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