Friday, May 4, 2012

General Elections in Greece: Keep Calm and Think ...


In complete contrast to their significance, Greece's General Elections on Sunday May 6 will be remembered for their very low-key-for-fear-of-flying-yoghurts election campaigning compared to the crowd-rousing, square-filling, flag waving, slogan chanting and demagoguery of all the previous years.

Anyone who has lived through election campaigns in Athens in the 80's and 90's know what we're talking about. 

Anyone who has ever heard PASOK Founder Andreas Papandreou address and rouse the crowds will know the feeling... there's nothing anywhere near that in these elections. PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos was to address the crowds in Syntagma this evening, but you could hardly tell...

An unprecedentented number of 32 parties, coalitions and individual candidates will be asking for our vote at Sunday's General Election, made up of 5 main parties and many splinter groups which branched out 
from the two main parties after crossing party lines in the memorandum votes.

The parties and their leaders (with links to the party's website or Wikipedia entry) that will contest the election are:
  1. Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), Evangelos Venizelos
  2. New Democracy (ND), Antonis Samaras
  3. Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Aleka Papariga
  4. Radical Left CoalitionUnitary Social Movement (Syriza), Alexis Tspiras
  5. Popular Orthodox Rally (Laos), Yiorgos Karatzaferis
  6. Democratic Alliance, (Dimokratiki Symmahia) Dora Bakoyannis
  7. Social Pact, (Koinoniki Symfonia) Louka Katseli
  8. Independent Greeks, (Anexartitoi Ellines) Panos Kammenos
  9. Democratic Left, (Dimokratiki Aristera) Fotis Kouvelis
  10. Drasi [Action]Liberal Alliance, Stefanos Manos and Grigoris Vallianatos
  11. Ecologists–Greens (Ecogreens Oikologoi Prasinoi), six-member committee
  12. Union of Centrists, (Enosi Kentrou)  Vassilis Leventis
  13. Liberal Party, K. Kaligiannis
  14. Popular Union–Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi), Nikolaos Michaloliakos
  15. Dimosthenis Vergis–Greek Ecologists, Dimosthenis Vergis
  16. Ochi [Democratic Revival and United Popular Front (Epam)], Stelios Papathemelis a
  17. "Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay" Movement, (Den Plirono) Vasilis Papadopoulos
  18. National Resistance Movement (KEAN), Ippokratis Savvouras
  19. Communist Party of Greece (Marxist-Leninist)Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Greece (KKE (m-l)–ML KKE), four-member committee
  20. Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow (Antarsia), 21-member ctte
  21. Organisation of Communist Internationalists of Greece (OKDE), 3-member ctte
  22. Workers Revolutionary Party (EEK Trokskyists), Sabetai Matsas
  23. Organisation for the Reconstruction of the Communist Party of Greece (OAKKE),
  24. National Unity Association (SEE), N. Alikakos
  25. Koinonia [Society: Political Party of the Successors of Kapodistria], Michail Iliadis
  26. Pirate Party of Greece,  I. Papagoupous
  27. Dimiourgia Xana (Recreate Greece), Thanos Tzimeros
  28. Panathinaikos Movement (Panki), Yiorgos Betsikas
  29. Axioprepeia [Dignity] (Alliance of independent candidates), Panayiotis Theodoropoulos
  30. Renewing Independent Left, Renewing Right, Renewing Pasok, Renewing New Democracy, No to War, Party of Action I Give Away Land, I Give Away Debts, Save Lives, Panagrarian Labour Movement of Greece (Paeke) Miltiadis Tzalazidis
  31. Regional Urban Development (PAA), Nikos Kolitsis (sole candidate)
  32. Athanasios Daskalopoulos (Independent)
Check out the links above from the Athens News , read up on the candidates and then go vote, but above all, remember to....


... For Greece's sake and ours!




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