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

 Picture Source: Sotiris Danezis on Facebook 

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 Coalition–Unitary 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!