2015 Greek Elections

This week we will focus on the Greek elections scheduled on January 25th.
The Greek Parliament has 300 members, elected for a four-year term by a system of 'reinforced' proportional representation in 56 constituencies, 48 of which are multi-seat and 8 single-seat. Seats are determined by constituency voting, and voters may select the candidate or candidates of their choice by marking their name on the party ballot. However, the party receiving the largest number of votes receives a 50-seat premium, which is filled by candidates of that party. The head of state – the President of the Hellenic Republic – is elected by Parliament for a five-year term.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on 8 December brought forward a presidential vote, creating uncertainty that revived fears of a Greek Eurozone exit. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced plans for an early general election next month after parliament rejected his candidate for president, throwing the country's international bailout into doubt.
After three rounds of voting, the only candidate in the race, former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas, fell short of the 180 votes needed to become president, triggering a procedure leading to the dissolution of parliament. Samaras immediately announced that he would meet outgoing President Karolos Papoulias to propose holding parliamentary elections on Jan. 25 and called on Greek voters to ensure stability was preserved.
Opinion polls point to a victory by the radical leftist Syriza party, which wants to wipe out a big part of Greece's debt, and cancel the terms of a bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund that Greece still needs to pay its bills.
"With the will of our people, in a few days bailouts tied to austerity will be a thing of the past," Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said after the vote. "The future has already begun."
Syriza has held a steady lead in opinion polls for months, although its advantage over Samaras' conservative New Democracy party has narrowed in recent weeks. Weakness among potential coalition partners of both could mean that whichever party wins in January will struggle to form a government and may not survive long.
Samaras, had been pushing for an early end to the deeply unpopular bailout program, brought forward the presidential vote earlier this month, gambling that victory would ease the growing political pressure on his ruling coalition.
A negotiating team from the "troika" of creditors from the European Commission, IMF and European Central Bank, had been due to resume talks in Athens next month to wind up the 240 billion euro bailout and agree an interim, post-bailout program.

By Barry Norman, Investors Trading Academy