01.35 Well that's it for this live blog following the election results. It's certainly been an eventful day. SYRIZA has unquestionably achieved a historic victory but, to state the obvious, the real work begins tomorrow. We can only wish the new Greek government the best of luck. They are going to need it.
01.25 Internationally acclaimed and Oscar winning Greek director Costa Gavras has telephoned Alexis Tsipras to congratulate him on his victory in the elections. The director was tipped as a possible presidential candidate in the discussions about the most suitable President of the Republic before the recent failed presidential vote.
01.18 (Reuters) French President Francois Hollande congratulated Greek leftist leader Alexis Tsipras for his SYRIZA party's election victory on Sunday and pledged to work together to support growth and stability in the euro zone.
In a statement issued by the French presidency, Hollande expressed his "desire to pursue the close cooperation between our two countries in service of growth and the stability of the euro zone, in a spirit of progress, solidarity and responsibility that is at the heart of the European values we share."
01.14 And David Cameron's reaction to SYRIZA's win? Not exactly congratulatory...
The Greek election will increase economic uncertainty across Europe. That's why the UK must stick to our plan, delivering security at home.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 25, 2015 00.47 With over 3/4ths of votes counted, the 151 majority remains elusive for SYRIZA: It is now on 149 seats: Specifically:
From the interior Ministry website: with 78.1 % reporting:
SYRIZA: 36.17% / 149 seats
ND: 28.02% / 77 seats
Golden Dawn: 6.33% / 17 seats
The River: 5.96% / 16 seats
KKE: 5.46 % / 15 seats
PASOK: 4.72% / 13 seats
Independent Greeks: 4.70% / 13 seats
Kinima (George Papandreou): 2.44% / 0 seats
(total outside of parliament: 8.68%)
Invalid / Blank: 2.36%
Voted: 63.07 %
00.38 Given that, barring a disaster SYRIZA will form the next Greek government, for all those who would like to take another look at the key points in their platform, it is available here in English.
00.33 - Keep an eye out for this meeting. It will determine much about how united the political forces will be moving forward.
To Potami chief Theodorakis expected to meet with election winner Tsipras within next 48 hours #Greece #ekloges2015
— Kathimerini English (@ekathimerini) January 25, 2015 00.08 And the people over at Occupy Wall Street have also hailed SYRIZA's victory.
Greece taught us Democracy, now they've taught us how to take it back. #syriza #tsipras #greekelection #podemos pic.twitter.com/Y9ZNGPl2fy
— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) January 25, 2015 23.57 In other news House star Hugh Laurie has offered SYRIZA his congratulations
Bravo Syriza! Must feel like they've just won a giant edition of Storage Wars, but let's hope those boxes are full of good stuff. Καλή τύχη!
— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) January 25, 2015 23.55 The River leader (To Potami) Stavros Theodorakis has been speaking with journalists. His party is fighting for third place (although has very little chance of winning it) with the neo-fascist Golden Dawn.
Theodorakis and his deputies have made clear that they are open to working with SYRIZA.
Potami leader Theodorakis says SYRIZA need allies, "country' can't change with party with 151 MPS" #greece #ekloges2015
— Kathimerini English (@ekathimerini) January 25, 2015 But the Independent Greeks leader is fighting to keep SYRIZA all to himself in a coaltion, reportedly ruling out taking part in a coalition with To Potami.
Ind Greeks leader Kammenos says he won't participate in #Greece coalition government if Potami also joins (via @MegaGegonota) #ekloges2015
— Manos Giakoumis (@ManosGiakoumis) January 25, 2015 This will likely be the key news story of tomorrow.
23.50
Alexis Tsipras celebrates Greek election victory with Syriza supporters #c4news #ekloges2015 https://t.co/a9pFuLSfrc
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) January 25, 2015 23.49
SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras waves to his supporters outside Athens University #Greece #ekloges2015 pic.twitter.com/6fAQtrhgEW
— Kathimerini English (@ekathimerini) January 25, 2015 23.30 An excited and energetic Alexis Tsipras addressed his supporters and European Left representatives in front of the Polytechnic University entrance. The Greek people have given clear, indisputable mandate, he said.
"It is a vote for dignity in a Europe that is changing. Our country took the first step, together with all the peoples of Europe. Tomorrow we start the hard work. The voting of the Greek people has indisputably ended the circle of Memoranda and austerity. We have full awareness that the Greek people do not give us a blank cheque but an order of reconstruction. We will make use of the trust voters have offered us and form a government of all the Greek people, whether they voted for us or not, in order to rebuild our country on the lines of justice and social cohesion. Today there are no winners or losers, except Greece of the elites, the oligarchs, which is coming to an end. We will face the plagues of the economic crisis head on, enforce democratic reforms and let hope win. We will defeat all Cassandras of destruction".
Tsipras thanked his supporters and wished them strength for the tough road ahead starting tomorrow. He also talked about a four year plan of fiscal policy without deficits and a credible plan for the future of the country, which he will be presenting to the upcoming dialogue in Europe.
23.18 Here's an interesting sketch from the Telegraph about today's Greek elections...
23.15
IndGreeks leader Kammenos: "We will back the effort to change politics in this country" #Greece #ekloges2015 pic.twitter.com/62cLBq8CXZ
— Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) January 25, 2015 23.06 With just over 50% of the vote counted here are what the results look like:
SYRIZA: 35.87% / 148 seats
ND: 28.33% / 78 seats
Golden Dawn: 6.37% / 17 seats
The River: 5.83% / 16 seats
KKE: 5.42 % / 15 seats
PASOK: 4.81% / 13 seats
Independent Greeks: 4.68% / 13 seats
Kinima (George Papandreou): 2.44% / 0 seats
(total outside of parliament: 8.68%)
Invalid / Blank: 2.33%
Voted: 62.17 %
22.58 Antonis Samaras has spoken conceding his defeat.
He said that the Greek people have spoken and that all will respect their decision.
Samaras maintained that 'his conscience is clear' and proceeded to list his government's achievements stressing that New Democracy laid the foundations for growth and the exit from the memorandum and eliminated the country's deficits. He also stated that the government had created a precedent for cooperation and government by consent unknown in Greek politics.
"I turn over a country without deficits and I turn over a country that is a member of the EU and the euro," he said adding that he hopes the next government "preserves these achievements."
He added that the election results were not good for New Democracy but that the party had stood strong, avoiding the worst. Samaras noted that ND had only lost two points in comparison to the result of the 2012 elections, and he stressed that New Democracy would play a decisive role moving forward to secure the European course of the country. "That is something I guarantee," he concluded.
It should be noted that Samaras did not announce a party conference or leadership elections, a fact which indicates that he may seek to remain leader of the party and fend off any potential leadership challenges.
22.46 Some slightly forlorn chants are heard 'Hellas, Hellas, Antonis Samaras"
22.45 Samaras has just arrived at Zappeion hall. Supporters are chanting.
22.44 And here's a tweet charting the rise and fall of the once mighty PASOK...
RT @AlbertoNardelli: The fall of Pasok since 1981: 48.1% 45.8% 39.1% 40.7% 38.6% 46.9% 41.5% 43.8% 40.5% 38.1% 43.9% 13.2% 12.3% 2015: 4.8%
— Stephane Maure (@RedUtopie) January 25, 2015 22.31 According to reports the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has telephoned Alexis Tsipras and offered his congratulations on his electoral win. Samaras is expected to make public comments in the Zappeion hall any minute.
22.30 PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos has made statements congratulating SYRIZA and Alexis Tsipras on his victory.
He said he was not pleased with PASOK's result and went on to make very pointed comments directed squarely at George Papandreou who he accused, by name, of delivering a crippling blow to PASOK by breaking away from the party 'with no political, only capricious reasons.' He went on to blame the former Prime Minister for granting the third place in the election to Golden Dawn with his move that broke up the center left voting block.
A visibly deflated Venizelos said that PASOK's burden would be easier now that it was 'not a major party'.
He has promised to hold a 'rejuvenating' conference on all matters including leadership. However he stressed would be 'only for PASOK' and not for other bodies that had undermined the party, in a nother sideswipe at George Papandreou.
22.12 With 37.2% of votes counted this is what the results look like (From the WSJ)
22.05 A reminder that elections or not, life goes on...
'Yes I do' #ekloge2015 in #Greece via @episodiakos pic.twitter.com/aBkLGKSeII”
— Emmy B (@greekemmy) January 25, 2015 22.00 - For detailed results as they are updated you can also click here. We will continue to cover significant developments in this live blog. Whether SYRIZA will obtain 151 seats will likely go down to the wire.
21.58 A close aide to French president Hollande has reportedly offered his congratulations to Alexis Tsipras.
21.54 According to reports, the night's winner, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras is expected to make his statements outside the entrance of the Athens Polytechnic University, instead of the Zapeion Megaron, as is accustomed.
21.46 According to reports, Antonis Samaras is en route to the Zappeion hall in central Athens to make a concession speech, expected in a few minutes
21.45 The Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos has released a statement from Korydallos prison trumpeting the fact that, as he states, ‘Golden Dawn is the third largest political force in the country’.
The neo-Nazi leader also notes that if the first two parties fail to form governments the baton will pass to Golden Dawn to attempt to put together a coalition. Of course, they too would fail as no other party would cooperate with Golden Dawn. However the results demonstrate the resilience of Golden Dawn which despite the serious indications of criminal activity on the part of its leadership has won over 6% of the vote.
21.34. The results estimate released from the Interior ministry is as follows:
- SYRIZA 36.5% (150 seats, minus, plus 1)
- New Democracy 27.7% (74 seats)
- Golden Dawn 6.3% (17 seats)
- The River 5.9% (16 seats)
- Communist Party 5.6% (15 seats)
- PASOK 4.8% (13 seats)
- Independent Greeks 4.7% (13 seats)
- Socialsts Democrats Movement 2.5% (0 seats)
It is becoming all the more obvious that in order to know whether SYRIZA wins absolute majority in the House, we'll have to wait until the end of the count.
21.32 A Ministry official just made a statement:
First things first, 7 parties will be represented in parliament. George Papandreou is definitely out.
The first indication is that SYRIZA will win 150 seats. But due to the statistical uncertainty it may win more or less. According to the official it may require the count to be finished before a definitive result crystallizes (ie whether SYRIZA will win an absolute majority or not) We will upload updated results very shortly.
And Golden Dawn will in all probablity be the third largest party, edging out The River.
21.27: This is what the electoral map of Greece looks like according to data from the Ministry of Interior (about 25% reporting). Red areas are those won by SYRIZA, blue for New Democracy.
21.23 And here's a video of SYRIZA supporters celebrating when the first exit polls were announced:
21.15: According to reporting by MEGA TV, Dimitris Avramopoulos a New Democracy politician and the current EU Commissioner for Immigration (and possible candidate for President of the Republic) has called Alexis Tsipras and offered his congratulations.
21.14 From the interior Ministry website: with 19.75% reporting:
SYRIZA: 35.14%
ND: 29.18%
Golden Dawn: 6.28%
The River: 5.65%
KKE: 5.31 %
PASOK: 5.18%
Independent Greeks: 4.62%
Kinima (George Papandreou): 2.52%
(total outside of parliament: 8.64%)
Invalid / Blank: 2.28%
21.12 French Liberation news daily's front page in tomorrow's issue: "The New Face Of Europe".
21.10 SYRIZA has released a variation of its pre-election graphic 'Hope is coming'. The new graphic writes, "Hope has won."
Το μήνυμα του #Syriza #stokokkino #ekloges2015 pic.twitter.com/bp1weJX3VR
— Στο Κόκκινο 105,5 (@stokokkino1055) January 25, 2015 21.05 Alexis Tsipras has arrived at SYRIZA party headquarters amid much cheering and blaring of horns.
21.01 While we wait for the official results to be released... why not?
Tsipras Zeus (not Andy Burnham) and his magic owl #Grexit #GreeceElections #Syriza :( pic.twitter.com/IRDDGfLYlt
— General Boles (@GeneralBoles) January 25, 2015 20.59 (Reuters) Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said Greece, where an anti-bailout party looks set to win a snap election, would continue to need aid and would only get this by sticking to agreements, adding he hoped the new government would not make promises the country could not afford.
"I believe it's also in the interest of the Greek government to do what is necessary to tackle the structural problems there," Weidmann said in an interview with German public broadcaster ARD. He singled out administration, public finances and the economy as being particularly in need of reform.
"I hope the new government won't call into question what is expected and what has already been achieved," he said.
20.57 More info on the maths breakdown for what SYRIZA needs for an absolute majority from the Kathimerini's Yannis Palaiologos:
With 8.7% of the vote for parties not entering parliament (current official projections), #SYRIZA needs 36.9% for outright majority.
— Yannis Palaiologos (@yanpal7) January 25, 2015 20.53 According to Reuters the euro fell (although not dramatically) on the news of the exit polls from the Greek elections:
"The euro fell after exit polls in Greece's general election showed the leftwing Syriza party winning a comfortable victory, raising the risk of a standoff over austerity measures with its European lenders.
The single currency fell versus most major currencies in early Australasian trade, losing nearly half a U.S. cent to around $1.1170 according to Reuters data and closing in on $1.1115 hit late last week, its lowest since September 2003."
20.51 Here's an interesting Tweet:
I know several #Troika officials who have been privately rooting 4 a #Syriza win so they can stop pretending that 2+2 = 5 #greeceElections
— Sony Kapoor (@SonyKapoor) January 25, 2015 According to Sony Kapoor's Twitter profile: Director @ReDefineEurope /Adviser 2 Govts & Investors/Sr. Fellow#LSE/Young EU Leader & @WEF Young Global Leader/Special Adviser 2 @UNEPhttps://www.linkedin.co
20.40: A quick recap: according to the exit polls, SYRIZA has won a resounding victory with a roughly 10-12 point lead over New Democracy.
At 21.30 the first official results will be released by the Ministry of the Interior. After that it is expected that the leaders of the parties will make their official statements.
Currently there are two key questions: 1. Will SYRIZA win an outright majority of 151+ seats? This will depend both on the percentage of the vote won by the party and the cumulative percentage of the vote won by parties that fail to reach the 3% threshold to enter parliament - the higher this number is, the lower the vote tally required by SYRIZA to win an outright majority.
2.) Which party will come in third place? According to the exit polls this is a dead heat between The River and Golden Dawn, with the River leading by the slimmest of margins which could well be reversed in the final tally. The result is so close that it may come down the last votes to be counted.
20.36 - An early exit poll has been revised including 100% of the results of the survey, reported on by Alpha TV. The results may mean that regardless of the percentage of the vote the smaller out-of-parliament parties get, SYRIZA would win an outright majority.
SYRIZA: 36.0 – 38.0
New Democracy 26.0-28.0
The River: 6.0 – 7.0
Golden Dawn: 6.0 – 7.0
KKE: 5.0 – 6.0
PASOK: 4.2 – 5.2
Independent Greeks: 2.0 – 4.0
George Papandreou’s ‘Kinima’: 2.2 – 3.2
20.32 - SYRIZA expects majority
A SYRIZA official has told TheTOC that it is expected within SYRIZA for the party to walk away with an absolute majority in parliament once the dust settles.
Specifically the official said that it is believed that SYRIZA will secure a percentage of the vote towards the higher end of current projections – i.e. 38%. The same official said he expected New Democracy to not surpass 25%.
SYRIZA headquarters do not expect George Papandreou to surpass the 3.0% threshold and enter parliament.
The above would mean that SYRIZA would win an absolute majority with about 154 seats in parliament.
20.20 Will Anotnis Samaras survive as New Democracy leader?
According to reporting by Dimitris Hatzinikolas from TheTOC, the exit polls have already sent shockwaves through New Democracy, with the center right party on course to suffer its biggest electoral defeat in years.
Antonis Samaras is currently at the party’s HQ in Sygrou street. He is expected to make a statement once the first official results are announced by the Ministry of Interior – expected at about 21.30.
According to sources, New Democracy officials were holding out the hope that a large portion of undecided voters (who were about 10% of voters going into todays election) would break at the last minute in favour of New Democracy. However if the early exit polls are to be believed the opposite appears to have happened.
It is believed that at the back of Samaras’s mind was the hope that New Democracy would walk away with a manageable loss, one that would deny SYRIZA an outright majority and open the way for a return to power soon for New Democracy - possibly within months - in the event that SYRIZA fails in its efforts to renegotiate Greece’s bailout program.
The thinking within New Democracy was that with a difference of about 7% between ND and SYRIZA, Antonis Samaras may have been able to save his political skin by calling an emergency conference and seeking reelection as party leader.
However with the current exit polls which foresee a 12% margin, and a comfortable majority in parliament of around 158 seats for SYRIZA, it is believed that Antonis Samaras’s chances of survival are exceptionally slim.
Already rumblings have been heard from potential challengers including Dora Bakoyianni and Evangelos Meimarakis who have made comments critical of New Democracy’s fear-based election strategy.
Indeed according to sources close to Bakoyianni, at a meeting last night it was decided that with an electoral result of below 25%, a change of leadership would be necessary at New Democracy.
20.05 Macedonian University exit poll:
The Macedonia University exit poll presented on Skai TV confirms the big difference between SYRIZA and New Democracy party, at between 9% and 15%. Speicifically, the exit poll shows SYRIZA leading by 36% to 39%, with New Democracy following with 24% to 27%.
The minor difference between the Macedonia Uni exit poll and the one presented by all the other TV networks is the percentage of the third party. Where the first exit poll gives 6.4% to 8% to both The River party and the Golden Dawn neo-Nazis, the new one gives a slight lead to the River with 6.5% to 8%, over GD with 6% to 8%.
The Communist Party is following with 5% to 7%, followed by PASOK (4% - 6%), Independent Greeks (3.5%) and George Papandreou's Socialist Democrats Movement (2.5%).
The last result, if confirmed, means that George Papandreou's party will not make it into parliament. It will also reduce the percentage required by SYRIZA to win an outright majority. It is reminded that due to the way Greek electoral law works, the larger the overall share of the vote going to parties that do not meet the 3% threshold to enter parliament, the lower the percentage of the vote required by the winning party to obtain an outright majority in parliament of 151+ seats.
20.01 According to the Derek Gatopoulos, the AP's correspondent in Athens, the former Health Minister Makis Voridis has made the first concession statement congratulating SYRIZA on its win:
One step from conceding: Health Minister Makis Voridis: ""What I see from exit polls is Syriza has won, and we congratulate them" #Greece
— Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) January 25, 2015 20.00 Early reports and unconfirmed photos on social media indicate that riot police are assembling outside the main Athens broadcasting center of ERT, presumably over concerns that some former workers of the state broadcaster will seek to gain entry.
One of SYRIZA's pre election pledges is that ERT will be re-opened and the roughly 2,500 workers laid off by the previous government will be re-hired.
19.46 Some early reactions from Twitter:
Exit poll results indicate strong probability that #Syriza could take absolute majority. The delayed endgame of the Eurocrisis has begun.
— Dan Alpert (@DanielAlpert) January 25, 2015 RT @CorinaVasilopou: The first victory for the left in #Greece. An historic moment for the country. Hope is here to stay. #Syriza
— Olivier Drot (@OlivierDrot) January 25, 2015 LATEST: #Syriza has ~14% lead over New Democracy - exit polls http://t.co/u7EHZS1JmX #GreeceElections pic.twitter.com/oBihgPFJSP
— RT (@RT_com) January 25, 2015 #Syriza victory will be celebrated in Madrid (Podemos) and Paris (Front National) which are also protest parties. Weird left-right alliance.
— Eric Reguly (@ereguly) January 25, 2015 Big q.: Will #SYRIZA try to find coalition partners even if they achieve a full majority? Its MPs already being grilled on it on TV.
— Yannis Palaiologos (@yanpal7) January 25, 2015 19.35 A recap of the first exit polls reported on by major TV networks:
The first exit polls presented in TV networks as soon as polls closed, show a clear SYRIZA majority with a difference of between 8.5% to 16.5%, very close to an outright majority in parliament.
According to the exit polls, SYRIZA gets between 35.5% and 39.5%, with conservative New Democracy following with 23% to 27%. It appears there will be a battle for the third position between Golden Dawn and the River party, both getting between 6.4% to 8.0%.
The seats according to the exit polls: SYRIZA gets between 146 to 158 seats, New Democracy between 65 and 75 seats, with The River and Golden Dawn between 17 and 22 seats.
This means one thriller as the night goes on will have to do with the possibility that SYRIZA will obtain an outright majority in parliament.
The second will be which party wins third place. While it remains an outside possibility, if Golden Dawn wins third place and the first two parties fail to form a government in the coming days, then Greece will see the unprecedented scene of a neo-fascist party, the leadership of whom is currently imprisoned pending their trial, being given the order to attempt to form a government.
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