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Greece's Socialists Take Early Lead In Local Elections
ATHENS -(Dow Jones)- Greece's ruling Socialists have taken an early lead in local elections, official results released late Sunday showed, amid indications many voters abstained from the ballot boxes.
The elections come amid widespread voter discontent and are seen as a referendum on the Socialist government's harsh, three-year austerity program. The government has warned that poor results could force it to call new nationwide polls after only 13 months in office.
With less than 10% of the vote counted, Socialist candidates were ahead in eight of the country's 13 electoral regions--including the key Attica region where some 40% of the population lives--while the opposition New Democracy party was ahead in the remaining five. The results were broadcast on state-run NET television.
In May, Greece narrowly avoided default with the help of a EUR110 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund and European Union in exchange for a three-year austerity and reform program.
That program has led to steep cuts in pensions and public-sector salaries, as well as a raft of new taxes on everything from cigarettes to basic foodstuffs.
The spending cuts and new taxes have also weighed on the economy, which is expected to shrink by 4% this year, while unemployment has rocketed to 12% in July from 9.6% a year earlier and business bankruptcies have soared.
ATHENS -(Dow Jones)- Greece's ruling Socialists have taken an early lead in local elections, official results released late Sunday showed, amid indications many voters abstained from the ballot boxes.
The elections come amid widespread voter discontent and are seen as a referendum on the Socialist government's harsh, three-year austerity program. The government has warned that poor results could force it to call new nationwide polls after only 13 months in office.
With less than 10% of the vote counted, Socialist candidates were ahead in eight of the country's 13 electoral regions--including the key Attica region where some 40% of the population lives--while the opposition New Democracy party was ahead in the remaining five. The results were broadcast on state-run NET television.
In May, Greece narrowly avoided default with the help of a EUR110 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund and European Union in exchange for a three-year austerity and reform program.
That program has led to steep cuts in pensions and public-sector salaries, as well as a raft of new taxes on everything from cigarettes to basic foodstuffs.
The spending cuts and new taxes have also weighed on the economy, which is expected to shrink by 4% this year, while unemployment has rocketed to 12% in July from 9.6% a year earlier and business bankruptcies have soared.