I do not agree with the conclusion stated in the title of this editorial, but this post at ekathimerini.com provides a recent overview of the political environment going into this weekend's election in Greece.
Greece’s parliamentary election, a rerun from an indecisive ballot last month, has become a two-horse race between the conservative New Democracy and the leftist SYRIZA.
New Democracy is telling Greeks they can either vote for the conservatives, stay in the euro and continue the European Union’s austerity program; or vote for SYRIZA, default, leave the euro and suffer even more. This is probably true. However, New Democracy got Greece into the mess it’s in, through an orgy of overspending and state-sanctioned corruption. It’s hard to imagine the party driving through the changes that Greece will need to grow again, if left alone.
SYRIZA’s fiery young leader, Alexis Tsipras, says Greece can junk the austerity program attached to its bailout, and that Europe will go on lending money for a pro-growth stimulus package.If this is true, looks like the SYRIZA party if elected is going to call the bluff of the EU on Greece's imposed austerity. As we hear from those currently in positions of authority in Germany and the UK:
In the past few days, Greeks have heard from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble that they can expect no relief from austerity. His U.K. counterpart, George Osborne, said Germany may even want Greece to leave the euro, because that would help persuade German taxpayers to rescue more important economies.So looks like no let up of the hardline against Greece taken by significant others in the EU going into the vote.
This source is also running a live blog related to the elections here, though it does not look like it has been updated as of this post time.
