Socialists win landslide Greek election
source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-10-04-greece-elections_N.htm?csp=34
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ATHENS (AP) — Greece's opposition Socialists won an early election by a landslide Sunday, initial results indicated, with voters angered by scandals and a faltering economy ousting conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
Official results from 39.66% of votes counted showed former foreign minister George Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or PASOK, ahead with 43.66%, compared to 35.29% for Karamanlis' New Democracy party. If the figures remain unchanged, the result gives PASOK a comfortable majority of about 158 seats in the 300-member parliament, bringing the party back to power after five years of conservative governance.
Papandreou, 57, now follows in the footsteps of his father, party founder Andreas Papandreou, and grandfather and namesake George Papandreou, both of whom served several terms as prime ministers.
PASOK's victory, along with a recent election win by socialists in Portugal, bucks a European trend that has seen a conservative surge in the continent's powerhouse economies, including most recently in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel won re-election last week.
"This is a historic victory for PASOK, which means great responsibility for us," senior party official and former minister Evangelos Venizelos said outside party headquarters, surrounded by jubilant supporters lighting flares and waving PASOK flags depicting the party's symbol of a green rising sun.
Official results from 39.66% of votes counted showed former foreign minister George Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or PASOK, ahead with 43.66%, compared to 35.29% for Karamanlis' New Democracy party. If the figures remain unchanged, the result gives PASOK a comfortable majority of about 158 seats in the 300-member parliament, bringing the party back to power after five years of conservative governance.
Papandreou, 57, now follows in the footsteps of his father, party founder Andreas Papandreou, and grandfather and namesake George Papandreou, both of whom served several terms as prime ministers.
PASOK's victory, along with a recent election win by socialists in Portugal, bucks a European trend that has seen a conservative surge in the continent's powerhouse economies, including most recently in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel won re-election last week.
"This is a historic victory for PASOK, which means great responsibility for us," senior party official and former minister Evangelos Venizelos said outside party headquarters, surrounded by jubilant supporters lighting flares and waving PASOK flags depicting the party's symbol of a green rising sun.
