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Pascal Rossignol / Reuters
New Democracy supporters hold flares as they celebrate in front of the Parliament in central Athens on Sunday.
Updated at 4:49 p.m. ET: ATHENS - The pro-bailout New Democracy party came in first Sunday in Greece's national election, and its leader proposed forming a pro-euro coalition government. The result eased fears of an imminent Greek exit from Europe's joint currency.
"The Greek people voted today to stay on the European course and remain in the euro zone... there will be no more adventures, Greece's place in Europe will not be put in doubt," New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said.
He said voters chose "policies that will bring jobs, growth, justice and security."
French socialists win absolute parliament majority
His party beat the anti-bailout Syriza party, which wanted to cancel Greece's international bailouts.
Yannis Behrakis / REUTERS
A Greek orthodox priest holds his ballot paper as he exits a voting booth at an Athens primary school used as a polling station on Sunday.
Syriza chief Alexis Tsipras conceded the election but vowed to continue its fight against the punishing terms of an EU/IMF bailout saving the country from bankruptcy.
"From Monday, we will continue the fight," Tsipras told supporters. "A new day for Greece has already dawned.
With 82.5 percent of the vote counted, official results showed the conservative New Democracy winning 30 percent and 130 of the 300 seats in Parliament. The radical anti-bailout Syriza party had 26.6 percent and 71 seats and the pro-bailout Socialist PASOK party came in third with 12.5 percent of the vote and 33 seats.
The anti-immigrant nationalist Golden Dawn party had 6.9 percent and 18 seats, while the Democratic left won 6.1 percent and 18 seats.
Because of a 50-seat bonus given to the party which comes first, that result would give New Democracy and PASOK 161 seats in the 300-seat parliament, in an alliance committed to a 130 billion euro ($164 billion) EU/IMF bailout keeping the country from bankruptcy.
Greek vote only buys some time in widening euro crisis
Sunday's vote was seen as crucial for Europe and the world, since it could determine whether Greece was forced to leave the joint euro currency, a move that could have potentially catastrophic consequences for other ailing European nations and the global economy. As central banks stood ready to intervene in case of financial turmoil, Greece held its second national election in six weeks after an inconclusive ballot on May 6.
The Eurozone's finance ministers said the outcome should allow for the formation of a government that will carry the support of the electorate to bring Greece back on a path of sustainable growth.
"The Eurogroup acknowledges the considerable efforts already made by the Greek citizens and is convinced that continued fiscal and structural reforms are Greece's best guarantee to overcome the current economic and social challenges and for a more prosperous future of Greece in the euro area," the group said in a statement.
"We congratulate the Greek people on conducting their election in this difficult time," the White House said in a statement. "We hope this election will lead quickly to the formation of a new government that can make timely progress on the economic challenges facing the Greek people."
Greece has been dependent on rescue loans since May 2010, after sky-high borrowing rates left it locked out of the international markets following years of profligate spending and falsifying financial data. The spending cuts made in return have left the country mired in a fifth year of recession, with unemployment spiraling to above 22 percent and tens of thousands of businesses shutting down.
Europe may be able to muddle through but the risk is rising. "There could be a Lehman's moment if things are not properly handled," Robert Zoellick, the outgoing head of the World Bank, told Britain's Observer newspaper.
The bankruptcy of U.S. bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008 triggered a global financial slump that indebted western nations are still struggling to recover from.
'Most important election in history'
The ongoing uncertainty was a prime concern for Greek psychologist Sofia Arvanici, who spoke to NBC News at a polling station in a northern suburb of Athens.
"This is Greece's most important election in history," the 36-year-old said. "We don't know whether we will have a government tomorrow, but we can't have more instability."
Bartering takes hold in austerity-wracked Greece
The European Union and International Monetary Fund have insisted that the conditions of the 130 billion euro bailout accord agreed in March must be accepted fully by a new government or funds will be cut off, driving Greece into bankruptcy.
Opinion polls show Greeks, weary after five years of deep recession, overwhelmingly favor remaining in the euro. But there is bitter anger over the repeated rounds of tax hikes, slashed spending and sharp cuts in wages.
"I voted with a heavy heart for a pro-bailout party because I want the country to stay in the euro, with the help of our European partners. I don't think the failed recipes of the left would get us out of this mess," Stratos Economou, 49, who runs a bakery shop in Athens, told Reuters.
Germans on edge as key Greek vote nears
Zoellick and other policy makers insist that the austerity Greece is living with is preferable to the alternative.
The Observer said the Zoellick would tell a G-20 summit that the euro crisis could hit developing nations hard, although clearly the effects would be felt further afield.
"Uncertainty in markets is now starting to increase costs for developing countries," he told the newspaper. "The ripple effects are making everybody's life harder."
Watch World News videos on msnbc.com
The G-20, which brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 major economies and the European Union, will start a meeting in Mexico on Monday. The gathering in the Pacific resort of Los Cabos promised to be overshadowed by the elections in Greece and mounting worries about Spain and Italy.
During Sunday's election, voters will choose a new prime minister, but the election is also considered a proxy for a much bigger question: will Greece still use the Euro or not? CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports.
The fate of the euro as well as the European Union itself was top of mind for finance director Kostas Theoharis, 40, as he cast his vote near Athens.
"The main scenario is whether the euro will exist. This is the question that needs answered rather than whether Greece will be part of the euro," he told NBC News at an Athens polling station with his son Alex, 6. "I fail to see how Greece could leave the euro without breaking up Europe. I understand that this is a financial problem but it needs a political solution."
NBC News' Yuka Tachibana, msnbc.com's F. Brinley Bruton and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
Blow up hte Euro make the banks sweat thay are only in it to make money off the backs of hard working middle class citizens while the rich only get richer. Blow up the US banks too that are too big to fail Citi, Chase, B of A, Morgan Etc.
I agree the banks care nothing for the people. They expect the people to pay for their mistakes and raise money for their lucrative spending on nonsense that helps no one but their shameful selves. America I am ashamed.
The best thing for Greece would be a bankruptcy. The bankers are the only ones coming out ahead from a bailout.
Look at Greece and it is why Obama must go
Spend, charge, unions and bankruptcy. 100 years ago we had no income tax, no inheritance tax and no capital gains taxes. We had a balanced budget and the whole world was coming here for jobs. Tell me again how the wealth is pooling at the top and killing the economy when at the turn of the last century Bill Gates would be a piker compared to the Vanderbilts the Astors the Morgans and the list goes on.
Blame the banks all you want it's not them spending your money like idiots it's the dummies that keep getting elected and telling you we need to spend our way out of this mess.
the euro is and (soon to be was ) stupid...they should all go back to having their own "coin"...the strong ones will ALWAYS be bailing out the weak ones...its idiotic....and sorry to spoil your "apocalyptic" thunder...but it will cause little or no problems to the U.S. if greek bites the dust....anyone who took middle school economics has known to steer their portfolios far and away from all things "euro" for a while now...Obama does not cause your financial and job problems...YOU DO!!!
Oddly, I don't recall all these Western European countries being on the verge of collapse prior to the Euro. Reason says the EURO was never a good idea for the whole of Europe.
I am no financial genius, lets get that out of the way first.
Why doesn't Greece tell Germany to stuff it? Look, if I need money from the bank in order to pay the bank, then I dictate the terms to some extent. If the bank demands terms that are too expensive for me, I refuse the loan. It's just like loansharking. It does no good to kill the guy that owes you money, unless you are trying to make a point about defaulting. In this case though, making an example of Greece is not going to keep Italy, Spain, Portugal or Ireland from going belly up. I think (and as I said before, I am no genius) that Greece might be better off on their own. Declare bankruptcy (like any self respecting multimillionaire would do I.E Mr. trump) and start over. At some point the powers of the E. U. would realize that punitive measures rarely help anybody. History has shown that you can only be king until the people no longer fear having their heads cut off. Once that fear is gone, you ain't king anymore.
Drive down any street and ask the people losing their houses if they are losing it because of the Bush tax cuts or because the interest on their sub-prime mortgage bumped up. "The neighborhood re-investment act" another brilliant stunt by the liberals that turned banking into a social program.
if you had a "sub-prime" mortgage or any thing but a 15-30 fixed...you are an idiot who did not read the papers...its funny how people blame their stupid acts on a President (any president)....if you bought a truck but live in a suburb you cant complain about gas prices...its your OWN STUPIDITY...if you bought a house KNOWING that the payments could change ...its your OWN STUPIDITY
Yes it can be blamed on a president hers Bush in 2002 www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqQx7sjoS8&feature=player_embedded
The reason I say it can be blamed on a President is because if you open the doors and lower your standards, of course people are going to give it a try what do they have to loose, Same way with Greece They went to the Euro, promised all these Great loans at low interest, didn't regulate it and now its out of control just like the sub-prime lending was.
Quite the quagmire eh? The people responsible for Greece's crisis, or any other which is going through this, should be marched to the gallows and hung.
Clark, we can't get two parties to agree can you imagine 1/2 dozen countries and 40 political parties? Talk about chasing trouble when they thought that one up.
It is not the bankers!! Greece went for socialism. They retire at age 50. Full national healthcare! This is called a Ponzi scheme. There are more children and retired people in Greece than workers. Use your brains. As a young worker between the ages of 18 and 50, you have to support children (e.g., schools, medicine) and adults (retiree pensions equal to almost your salary, medicine). All of your working wages must go to support someone else not working. Eventually, NOW, the country runs out of money! The bankers' mistake was to loan money to a socialist government, but socialism rights regulations insuring that the banks support the government. The people of Greece chose to elect socialists and follow socialist economics, i.e, a Ponzi scheme. The people of Greece committed economic suicide. Greece is going to die. Don't blame the bankers. They were forced to support the politicians! (Obama!)
do you work?...cuz I take home almost all my money...sure I pay taxes on every check.....but I still have a huge hunk of change every 2 weeks...so how can you compare greece where you say "people pay all their working wages" to America...where we dont...like I said...do you even work?
Even if what you describe is true and I have no reason to believe otherwise, it doesn't make the terms of the bailout any better. What if Greece says nope, we'll just drop out and see how things go. Broke is broke and if your going to be broke, I'd rather it be on my own terms. So then the other struggling economies in the EU do the same and the entire union collapses. What are the consequences? Who actually gets hurt?
Anyone else like the irony of the Greek engineer in the picture moving to Germany to find work work?
What balderdash. There will be no Lehman moment. There was no "reverse Lehman" moment when this foolishly conceived currency union was conceived more than a decade ago. The Greeks, regardless of how the vote goes, may ultimately want to remain in the EU anyway. The larger question is whether they should be allowed to stay. The EU has never enforced its own rules and standards with respect to fiscal matters and, frankly, they are unlikely to do so at the present moment. Greece will continue to be a recipient of bailouts until such time as the few really solvent countries left in their arrangement say "enough" and stop offering money on any terms whatsoever. The Greeks want to have their cake and eat it too and up until now it has worked - sorta. Margaret Thatcher was prophetic when she noted that the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.
Other nations have gone broke in the past and rebuilt themselves. Argentina comes to mind instantly. The Greeks were the first to default on sovereign debt. Spain has done so more often than any other country.
There is going to be pain involved here regardless. That doesn't mean that we as a nation should become "enablers" and get involved in this fiscal trainwreck known as the EU.
Hey Greek people we are tired of hearing you whine that you think other people should support you. Just go communist, pull out of the Euro and shut up.
get rid of the bankers and make your own currency, its the only way to prosperity because debt = slavery.
Denis Joyal watch this 2002 Bush video, Heres where it got started that opened the doors to sub-prime loans and the way they accepted loans. This is where it all started going a muck
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqQx7sjoS8&feature=player_embedded
To solve the financial problems caused by Lehman Bros. seize any and all assets from the company and hold it in an escrow to be divided among the countries that were hurt by the company's mismanagement.
What is really sad is Obama wants the same economic system here as in Greece and thinks the result will be different. Obama must go
Argoemechie Stakola!!!
I just read where a 60 year musician from Greece couldn't feed him or his elderly mom and he took her up onto the roof of their home and both jumped . this is not a joke it really happened. this is so sad.
and yet we all sit back and watch the wealthy keep sucking from the economy and not putting it back into circulation. why are not the ones with millions helping out?
GREED is going to ruin the world.
The Greek Nation has always been a lazy Nation inhabited by lazy asses who like their good time and not working hard enough to secure their future. How can anybody retire at age 50. Who is going to finance their retirement? If thry don't like to work, they should not eat,period. Noe they are goign to find out when they all abandon their vacation Island and move to a more hard working cultures around the globe. Maybe they can learn something otherwise, they will follow the fate of Italy, Spain and Portugal- all other lazy asses who used to go around the world stealing and seizing resources all over.
I doubt that anyone is going to learn from their mistakes .
there is too much greed in this world. and for what?
you can't take it with you when you die.
the rich need to come off their high horses and start putting some of the money they took off the country and give some back.
all countries are in for a rude awakening when they all go belly up.
and when the say spend so we can keep the economy going
THEY MEAN SPEND MONEY YOU HAVE , NOT MONEY YOU don't have.
Like using your charge cards when you know full well you don't have a pot to pi$$ in and a window to throw it out of .
The only differance between the IMF and Jesse and Frank James is that the IMF don't wear masks when they rob you. The euro is destined to failure. Greece would be very wise to get out now and set the trend for other countries that are being brow beaten by Germany and the IMF.
"I voted with a heavy heart for a pro-bailout party because I want the country to stay in the euro, with the help of our European partners. I don't think the failed recipes of the left would get us out of this mess,"
Sound familiar.........