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    May 06, 2012

Greece Votes in General Elections

   VOA News
   A Greek Orthodox priest holds his ballot paper as he exits a voting
   booth at an Athens primary school used as a polling station, during
   Greece's general election, May 6, 2012. Photo: 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, during
   Greece's general election, May 6, 2012.

   Greeks are voting Sunday in the first general election since the start
   of the country's debt crisis.
   Angered by economic difficulties, voters are expected to punish the
   country's two main parties: the socialist PASOK party and the
   conservative New Democracy party. Many Greeks blame the parties for
   leading the nation into its current bind through mismanagement.
   In just two years, Greece has received two huge international bailouts
   to keep from defaulting on its financial obligations. But in order to
   secure the aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund,
   the government had to bow to demands to impose sharp spending cuts and
   tax increases, which have generated widespread protests.
   The two main parties are expected to lose votes Sunday to a field of
   smaller parties opposed to the austerity measures, bringing fears of
   new political instability.
   If no party wins enough votes to form a government, building a new
   coalition could prove difficult and create even more problems for the
   nation's financial standing and its latest bailout. Many Greeks want
   the terms of the bailout to be renegotiated.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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