Greek Default Imminent

The Greek elections were confusing on multiple levels and this may be the catalyst that pushes Greece out of the European Union. Aside from the obvious economic issues, which was my primary focus, the confusion created by the press questioning Greece's ability to form a new government left me positively dumbfounded. Here in the U.S. it's a simple matter of counting up the votes and inaugurating the winner. Greece is a parliamentary republic, which means the President is ultimately decided by the 300 member Parliament.

Greece's top vote getter in the election was Antonis Samaras of the New Democracy Party. However, he won less than 20% of the popular vote and his party only secured a third of the Parliamentary seats. The Parliament holds their Presidential vote after the popular vote determines the Parliament's makeup. Thus the Presidential vote should be proportional to the Parliament's popular vote. Typically, Greece's elections are very similar to ours in that there have only been two parties with any real shot at gaining power. The second leading vote getter, Evangelos Venizelos, of the PASOK party, Greece's other dominant political party was able to garner 13% of the popular vote and a mere 41 Parliamentary seats.

The inability of either of the primary parties, who both favor austerity measures, to win a majority of Parliamentary seats further muddies the political waters and this is the cause of the, "Greece has failed to form a government" confusion. Greece is now going through the bargaining process with each candidate trying to win enough Parliamentary votes from the other parties to meet the two third's vote necessary to become President. Currently, neither of the primary parties, New Democracy or Pasok has been able to do it. The anti austerity radical and left wing parties that secured a record proportion of the popular vote have also failed in their turns to corral the necessary votes. This forces a second round of voting, which will require three fifths of the vote to win and will be held next month. Finally, if they are unable to reach a three fifth's majority, the Parliament is dissolved and a new election is held. The new President will be the one who gets the most votes. (more)