A spasm of fury

Economist
May 7, 2012

The citizens of Greece have delivered a stinging rebuke to the politicians who plunged them into the worst recession they can remember. At yesterday's general election they voted overwhelmingly for anti-austerity parties, wrecking hopes that the two mainstream parties, the centre-right New Democracy (ND) and the centre-left PanHellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), could form a stable coalition to continue reforms agreed with Greece’s creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

With more than 99% of the vote counted, New Democracy has won just 18.9% of the vote and 108 seats in the 300-seat parliament (thanks to a law that gives the winning party an extra 50 seats). Pasok fell back to third place, with 13.2% of the vote and 41 seats. The big winner was Syriza (Left Coalition), which surprised even opinion pollsters by coming in second, sucking support from Pasok. The party took 16.8% of the vote (up from just 4.6% per cent at the previous election, in 2009), and will take 52 seats in parliament.

A nastier surprise was the strong showing by Chryssi Avghi (Golden Dawn), a Greek neo-Nazi group which campaigned for the expulsion of thousands of illegal immigrants. It will enter parliament for the first time after winning 7% of the vote and 21 seats. Its blackshirts have won hearts and minds by stepping in where Greece's social services have failed, handing out food and clothing to impoverished families and pensioners. They also provide escorts in gritty districts of Athens for elderly shoppers afraid of getting mugged by desperate Afghans and Somali asylum-seekers.

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