November 7, 2010
Since he was elected a year ago, Prime Minister George Papandreou has struggled to satisfy two difficult and seemingly mutually exclusive constituencies: international financial markets and Greeks.
On Sunday, he claimed a victory on both counts, based on projections of a strong showing by his Socialist party in regional elections widely seen as a referendum on the government’s austerity measures.
With only 10 percent of the votes counted — and despite record-high abstentions, estimated at 40 percent — Mr. Papandreou gave a triumphant televised address.
“Tomorrow we will continue to work toward the crucial goal of safeguarding the future of our country, a future that will allow us to control our own fate, a future free of any kind of supervision or stewardship,” he said.
“I am not saying that things will be easy, but there are no magic solutions either,” he added.
He said he would not call early elections, which he had threatened to do if his party lost, averting potentially tumultuous political and economic instability if he did. And he made it clear that his administration would continue with the measures, which Greece adopted in May in exchange for a $150 billion emergency loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
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