Greece will vote in parliamentary elections on Sunday that some analysts say could jeopardize the euro zone.
While most expect the center right New Democracy Party and center left Pasok to come in first and second respectively, they are unlikely to win enough seats to form a coalition without the support of smaller parties.
The two major parties are currently sharing power in a caretaker government. They have both worked to meet the conditions set by the euro zone for bailout packages. This has meant steep cuts into the social safety net even as Greece’s unemployment rate hovers over 20%.
An angry public has reacted with protests, strikes and in one extreme case, a public suicide outside of Parliament to protest the austerity policies. This climate is helping parties on both the far left and extreme nationalist right.
The left wing Syriza currently stands at third in the polls. This could potentially leave Syriza in position to form a government if New Democracy and Pasok are unable to do so. Its youthful and media savvy leader Alexis Tsipras has committed to ending austerity. He has said he hopes to form a broad left wing coalition with input and participation from the public. Some polls suggest that taken together, left wing anti-austerity parties may get as much as 40% of the vote. There are, however, strong divisions between left wing parties.
The highly controversial Golden Dawn party is also expected to do well enough to gain parliamentary seats on Sunday. The party has struck a populist chord attacking European bureaucracy and appealing to wounded national pride. Its leader Nikolaos G. Michaloliakos, has also frightened observers with his ultra nationalism. He has called for his party to form private militias and for Greece’s borders to be mined in an effort to stop migrants.
