Greece a step closer to elections after 2nd presidency vote fails
"I am hopeful...that the country will avoid a national danger" in holding early polls, Samaras said
ATHENS (AFP) - Greece stood a step away from early elections that could repudiate its international bailout and rekindle a eurozone crisis after lawmakers failed on Tuesday to elect a president.
The government candidate, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, fell 32 votes short of the required 200 votes in the second attempt by lawmakers to elect a president, meaning a third and final vote will be held on December 29.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned after the vote that early general elections, which could be held as soon as January 25, constituted a "national danger".
"I am hopeful...that the country will avoid a national danger" in holding early elections, Samaras told reporters.
"Every lawmaker stands before their responsibility...as regards the consequences of their vote on stability, normality and the future of the homeland," Samaras said.
European Union and International Monetary Fund officials fear an early election -- which could be held as soon as January 25 -- would be won by radical leftist party Syriza and could undo many of Greece s ongoing fiscal reforms.
Greece s dire finances nearly destroyed the euro, and despite two bailouts worth 240 billion euros ($290 billion) and wiping out most of the debt held by private investors, the economy has only begun to return to growth after six years of contracting.
The reforms required by the EU and IMF have improved the government s finances, but have taken a terrible toll on Greeks as unemployment soared above 27 percent and many people have had wages and benefits cut.
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras -- who has pledged to raise wages and pensions and stall privatisations -- insisted that the country is heading for early elections which his party would win.
"With the new year, our country will turn the page," Tsipras told reporters.
The Greek stock exchange opened with a drop on Tuesday, losing over 2.0 percent at the time of the vote.
A total of 180 lawmakers are required in the third and final vote at midday on December 29.
Situation looks difficult
In a bid to sway independent MPs, Samaras on Sunday offered to hold early elections in late 2015, provided that a president is elected and that tough talks with the country s EU-IMF creditors are concluded first.
In the first vote on December 17, the government candidate had picked up 160 votes.
After Samaras offer, Dimas won another eight lawmakers to his side on Tuesday, including two former lawmakers of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.
Picking up another dozen votes will not be easy for the government, however.
"It looks difficult, chances are that Dimas will not be elected," George Kyrtsos, a former political analyst and a European MP with Samaras conservative party, told Skai TV.
The presidential vote has been tainted by allegations from a small nationalist party that people close to the government were trying to bribe its lawmakers into voting for Dimas.
However, an investigation by judicial authorities has so far found insufficient proof to press charges.
Greece recently secured a two-month extension from its international creditors to conclude an ongoing fiscal audit that will determine the release of some 7.0 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in loans.
This extension expires in February, and the finance ministry has warned that the state will face cash difficulties from March onwards.
In 2012, back-to-back elections were needed in May and June to form a shaky coalition government, stalling Greece s fiscal reforms and sparking speculation that the country was about to be ejected from the eurozone.
