Friday, 2 October 2009
Greek opposition socialist leader George Papandreou tried to sway undecided voters in a major campaign rally ahead of an election Sunday, promising to bring jobs and trust back to the crisis-hit country. The Athens rally, where some 40,000 gathered, was seen as Papandreou's last opportunity to try to gather enough support to win an absolute majority and form a government outright. The socialists lead the incumbent conservatives in opinion polls, but are not certain to meet that threshold.
"I address all those who have not decided yet, I reach out to them and tell them from my heart: let's go together, unite your dreams with ours," Papandreou, 57, told the rally on Thursday, drawing loud cheers and applause.
"I address the young, those who stay away from politics, the bloggers, our students with their uncertain future ... let's turn their doubts into positive action," he said, accusing the conservatives of letting the Greeks down.
Waving the PASOK socialists' green flag, voters said the election gave them hope, although they doubted PASOK would keep all its promises.
"I don't know if he can do all he has promised, because the country is in a bad state, but I hope he'll do most," said 34-year-old accountant Sofia Koletti, who had voted in a 2007 election for another party, the Left Coalition.
"We vote for hope," said 30-year-old unemployed Ioanna Pappa.
Papandreou, a former foreign minister who has lost two elections to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, put a strong emphasis on the fight against corruption and the economic crisis.
"Let's win our dignity back, with an economy that gives jobs to the young and keeps small businesses alive," he said.
Analysts say an inconclusive vote would increase uncertainty in debt-ridden Greece, which narrowly escaped recession and needs a strong government to tackle long-delayed reforms.
Should no party win outright a repeat election is the most likely scenario, and would take at least another 30 days at a time when Greece needs to take budget and economic measures to fight an economic crisis. After years of robust economic growth, Greece expects output to slow to zero or even lower this year.
Karamanlis was elected in 2004 on a pledge to clean up Greek politics after decades of socialist scandals. But his government was itself shaken by scandals and struggled to cope with the economic slowdown and social unrest.
In the last published opinion polls Papandreou was leading the New Democracy conservatives by about 6 percentage points.
By Ingrid Melander
