Greece Legislative Election – 2009

October 5, 2009

By Padmini Arhant

On October 4, 2009, the people of the Hellenic Republic went to the polls and unanimously elected the Panhellenic Socialist Movement leader, George Papandreou as the next Prime Minister for a four-year term office.

The Prime Minister-elect initially disregarded as a non-viable candidate in the electoral race, despite the candidate’s strong political lineage. Nevertheless, the republic decided to offer the Socialist Party an overwhelming victory against the center-right political party – New Democracy, represented by the incumbent Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis in the recent election.

Greece is no exception to the political and economic woes of the contemporary world. The electoral mandate is clearly a rejection of the common elements dominant in every national system i.e. corruption, lack of trust and accountability, incompetence contributing to the rising unemployment, stagnant economy and the last but not the least,

The persisting political tensions on the Cyprus dispute involving the Greek and the Turkish Cypriots is yet another unresolved political dilemma for the United Nations Security Council.

With the dynamic shift in the legislative power moving from the center-right to the center-left, the newly elected Socialist government resolve would be subject to scrutiny by the Greek electorate as well as the center-right EU leadership.

As a member of the European Union, OECD and NATO, the contribution by Greece is significant and the new government policy could possibly expedite the positive outcome on many global issues ranging from the economy, energy, environment and the contentious war in Afghanistan.

Congratulations! to the Prime Minister-elect George Papandreou and the people of the culturally enriched Greece on their investment towards more progressive, democratic and prosperous future.

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

Comments

Got something to say?

You must be logged in to post a comment.