Greece elections: Voters will choose the Syriza party – and send a defiant message to the EU

[Jefferson23]

Sunday 25 January 2015


It was raining yesterday in central Athens, which creates a problem for those feeding the homeless. “Normally, people living on the streets stay at a single spot where they can get heat from an air vent from underground, so they’re easy to find,” says Yanis, a diver and engineer in the navy who runs a charity. “But with the rain coming down, they may have moved to seek shelter under a bridge or somewhere like that, so it’s more difficult to bring them food.”

Yanis is hoping that Syriza, the party of the radical left, will win today’s election and reduce both mass poverty and the general sense of hopelessness. “I don’t think that tomorrow will bring green valleys and golden cows,” says Yanis. But he does hope, with Syrizia in power, to see some improvement.

He may well get his wish by the time polls close at 7pm today.



The Greek radical left is likely to defeat the centre-right governing party in today’s elections, challenging the EU over repayment of Greece’s €240bn debt and enforced reduction of living standards. Opinion polls show that, in the past few days, the left-wing Syriza party, led by Alexis Tsipras, has been increasing its lead over the party of the Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, who for two years has imposed austerity on Greece in return for loans from the EU. Unfortunately for him, the Greeks haven’t felt that they were benefiting from their sacrifices.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greece-elections-voters-will-choose-the-syriza-party--and-send-a-defiant-message-to-the-eu-10000776.html

[Fred Sanders]

1. Is there a reliable website for real time results or first results or exit polling? Thanks.

[Jefferson23]

2. I don't Fred, only a bit of info from Reuters. I'll post if I come across one. n/t

[Fred Sanders]

3. Thanks. This is the best I could find, results in 2 hours.

http://ekloges.ypes.gr/current/v/public/index.html?lang=en&fullsite=1#{"cls":"main","params":{}}

[Jefferson23]

4. It's too early to tell, but try this:

Greek Elections 2015 | LIVE

Follow our 2015 Elections Blog for live coverage of all the breaking developments in today’s general election. You can also follow us on Twitter: @ekathimerini

09.21 Good morning fellow election watchers, welcome to the second day of ekathimerini's live blog. Here you will find an aggregation of breaking news, pictures and videos of all things political. Check back often for updates.

09.23 To get you started, click here for an overview of parties taking part in the vote. Additional facts and figures are available here.

09.25 Over 9.8 million voters are eligible to vote in today’s general election.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_25/01/2015_546503

[Fred Sanders]

5. Thanks...we will probably know the results before the American media does. And start the spin.

[bemildred]

12. And todays blog:

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_25/01/2015_546507

[Jefferson23]

14. Awesome! So thrilled for them..thanks...I was offline. n/t

[bemildred]

10. Guardian has one, don't know how good it is:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/jan/25/greek-election-syriza-confident-of-victory-live-updates

[Fred Sanders]

6. On a different topic, I wonder what Congress would look like if America also had a

proportional system of assigning seats and power?

That would be an interesting experiment in mathematics and demography and politics.

Even in the Deep South there would be probably dozens more liberal lawmakers than now in the House, from likley at least 4 or 5 political parties, assuming common sense finance laws.

[Jefferson23]

7. What may be encouraging about this election, aside from the obvious for the Greeks,

it may inspire people to fight back on their own horrific economic policies..wherever they live.

I think our system would be highly functional if we had public funded elections. CU made it worse
than ever before.

[quadrature]

8. both political parties(in the US) seem well funded ...

if someone is not getting their message out,
who would that be?

[Jefferson23]

9. It's who they are well funded by that is the problem. n/t

[Fred Sanders]

11. Anyone being so well funded, and in secret doubly so, is the problem, there is only one issue.

[bemildred]

13. A third exit poll by Kapa appears to confirm that Syriza is heading for a big win.

Another exit polls suggest Syriza could have secured more than 40% of the vote.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/jan/25/greek-election-syriza-confident-of-victory-live-updates