Greece updates including early EP Election results May 25 , 2014 -- Greece Sells 110 Beaches To Appease Troika, "Tell The Russians & Qataris To Hurry Up!" ....... Greece EP Elections 2014 – 24% counted: SYR 26.5% ND 23.1% GD 9.3% ........ Fitch Ratings increased Greece’s credit rating one level confirming PM Antonis Samaras’ elections slogan that the economy is improving. And still in line with Samaras and his coalition partner Venizelos, Fitch warns of “political instability” should early elections take place.

SYRIZA scores first election win but coalition stands firm after EU vote SYRIZA gained the first electoral victory in its history on Sunday as it came first in the European Parliament vote but failed to establish a big enough gap over the coalition, for which PASOK performed better than expected, to suggest that the government’s stability is in question. The opposition party was projected to receive 26.7 percent of the vote, which is almost identical to the percentage it received in the 2012 general elections. New Democracy was expected to get 22.8 percent and the Elia (Olive Tree) alliance, led by PASOK, 8.1 percent. Although this would only secure the center-left grouping fourth place, it had been expected to perform slightly worse in terms of its percentage. A stronger performance by Elia meant that the coalition’s combined support was comfortably above SYRIZA, whose officials had suggested during the campaign that a large margin of victory over New Democracy or a low aggregate vote for the two governing parties would give the leftists license to call for snap elections. Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said the result left no room for SYRIZA to claim that it could “overthrow” the government. “There is no issue of early elections,” he said. The SYRIZA camp, however, took heart from what was a historic win for the party and insisted that the result of the European elections confirmed that the leftists are on course to lead the next government. “The map of [Greece’s] political forces, as we knew it over the past decades, has changed,” said SYRIZA spokesman Panos Skourletis, who questioned whether New Democracy and PASOK had a mandate to handle issues of national importance. “This government cannot handle the negotiations regarding debt relief, an issue that will affect Greece for the next decades,” he added. “It now lacks the political legitimacy to do so.” In terms of seats in the European Parliament, SYRIZA was on course to elect six MEPs, New Democracy five and Elia two. Beyond the contest between the coalition parties and SYRIZA, and what this might mean for national politics, the European elections also underlined that Golden Dawn’s influence has become firmly established. The neo-Nazi party was on course to gain just over 9 percent of the vote, which was some 2 percentage points higher than its result in the June 2012 national elections. Despite its leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, and several of the party’s MPs being in pretrial custody on charges of forming a criminal organization, Golden Dawn was set to elect three MEPs to the European Parliament. To Potami (The River), the centrist party formed by journalist Stavros Theodorakis just a few months ago, came in fifth place. It was expected to get around 6.7 percent of the vote, which was slightly lower than many opinion polls had suggested but still an impressive total for a new party with no politicians in its ranks. To Potami is due to send two parliamentarians to Brussels and Strasbourg. The Communist Party (KKE) was expected to elect the same number of MEPs despite gaining less support. KKE was forecast to receive 6 percent of the final vote. The final MEP spot was due to go to the right-wing anti-bailout party Independent Greeks. It was expected to gain 3.4 percent in Sunday’s elections. There was disappointment for Democratic Left (DIMAR), the only parliamentary party not to elect an MEP. DIMAR was expected to gain less than 1.5 percent.

ekathimerini.com , Sunday May 25, 2014 (23:33)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-25/greece-sells-110-beaches-appease-troika-tell-russians-qataris-hurry

Greece Sells 110 Beaches To Appease Troika, "Tell The Russians & Qataris To Hurry Up!"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/25/2014 19:15 -0400

• European Central Bank
 
• Gambling
 
• Greece
• International Monetary Fund
 
• Reality

inShare1

 

One hundred and ten of Greece’s best beaches are on sale by Greece’s privatization agency, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED) in the name of supposed 'development' and 'utilization of public assets' as the prerequisite for receiving more handouts from the Troika. "This sale of the land must happen," explains one Greek civil servant, "we need this now, quickly. Tell the Russians and the Qataris to hurry up!"

But as KeepTalkingGreece notes, not everyone is so exuberant about a supposedly recovered Greece dumping assets in order to pay back its European bailout banker overlords. With SYRIZA taking the lead in elections, the euro-skeptic sentiment is likely only to rise.

• *SYRIZA PLACES FIRST IN GREECE'S EU ELECTIONS, EXIT POLL SHOWS

As The Guardian reports, some 70,000 lots are for sale in the nation's largest firesale. "We are like a bankrupt housewife forced to sell the silver, to save the family," said one Greek beach-sitter, "Greece has no choice." Well - in fact - they do...

As The Guardian reports,

On Monday Antonis Samaras, the prime minister, scraped through another round of negotiations with the Troika – the EU, IMF and European Central Bank – and managed to secure payment of the next EU 8.8 billion instalment of the bailout. But privatisation is a prerequisite for receiving the bailout funds.

The sale of the coast at Afandou is part of the Greek government's desperate attempts to raise money by privatising its vast portfolio of state-owned assets – the largest firesale in history.Some 70,000 lots are for sale, ranging from pristine stretches of coast through to royal palaces, marinas, thermal baths, ski resorts and entire islands. Only last Wednesday, bidding closed for a stake in the state gambling company.

...

"We are like a bankrupt housewife forced to sell the silver, to save the family," he said. "Greece has no choice."

...

"This sale of the land must happen," she said. "We need this now, quickly. Tell the Russians and the Qataris to hurry up!"

...

"Anyone who argues against it is either an idiot, or a state employee who doesn't think about economic reality and just likes to lounge on the beach," he said. "We have our heads in the noose."

However, not everyone supports the idea of so many places going under the hammer.

"We need to keep state ownership of all our assets – not sell them to the highest bidder," complained Yiannis Milios, chief economist for the opposition Syriza party, who would prefer to see more use of public-private partnerships, rather than sales.

"Experience shows that the privatisation of public goods is a very bad idea.With water, for instance, the quality falls but the price rises, which is totally wrong. The government is very good at finding legal formulas to work its way round supposed guarantees of public interest. It is not a good idea at all."

But - after loud protests from the people.. the government has backed off a little...

As the new draft bill for the ‘regulation of seashores’ foresees that the sold beaches must allow a small space for the public to use for free, it is really hilarious to see the plot of Sarakino beach for sale: it is marked with red ink. A tiny strip of beach is foreseen for free access for the public. The free beach is so small that it will allow swimmers to enjoy sun bathing most probably standing on their feet.

It seems the Greeks have forgotten one thing... their free-will choice to remain "in" the Euro...

• *SYRIZA FORECAST TO GET 26%-30% VS 23%-27% FOR NEW DEMOCRACY

Or have they?

tagged: Attica Region, elections 2014, exit polls, Greece, live blogging, May 25 2014,municipality elections, regional elections, Sunday

Greece EP Elections 2014 – 24% counted: SYR 26.5% ND 23.1% GD 9.3%

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Politics

The first wave of exit polls has been announced at 7 o’clock Sunday, May 25th 2014. The first wave of exit polls refer to European Parliament Elections and Attica Region.

“The error margin is +/-2,” a pollster said to state NERIT TV.

Live blogging continues below the exit poll results.

As this is a Live Blogging and an ongoing process, refresh the KTG page from time to time.

European Parliament Elections

at 7 pm Exit polls at 7% by 75% of the questionnaires counted. Exit Polls by 100% see below at 8:33 pm

SYRIZA 26% – 30%

Nea Dimokratia 23% – 27%

PASOK/ELIA 7% -9%

Golden Dawn 8% -10%

To Potami 5% – 7%

KKE 5% – 7%

Independent Greeks 3,5% – 5%

Democratic Left 1.5% – 2.5%

LAOS 1.5% -2.5%

Municipality Elections

Thessaloniki:

Boutaris (center-left) 56% -60% (estimated to receive 58%)

Kalafatis (ND) 40% – 44% (estimated to receive 42%)

Regional Elections

Attica

Dourou (SYRIZA) 48% – 52%

Sgouros (PASOK+ND) 48% – 52%

Central Macedonia

Tsitsikostas (former ND)

Ioannidis (ND)

source: state NERIT TV

tagged: analysis, Fitch, Greece,political instability, snap elections,syriza, upgrade, warning

Fitch upgrades Greece, warns of “political instability” if snap elections

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Economy, Politics

Fitch Ratings increased Greece’s credit rating one level confirming PM Antonis Samaras’ elections slogan that the economy is improving. And still in line with Samaras and his coalition partner Venizelos, Fitch warns of “political instability” should early elections take place.

“Greece’s long-term debt was raised to B, five levels below investment grade, from B-, Fitch said in a statement Bloomberg News.

“Greece achieved a primary surplus in the general government account in 2013, a key target” in the European Union-IMF financial assistance program and “an over-performance relative to budget,” the ratings company said in a statement.

“The economy is bottoming out,” Fitch said. “Economic data outturns have been encouraging and support our baseline expectation that the recovery will gradually take hold this year.”

Political Instability

Four years and three prime ministers after Greece’s then-Premier George Papandreou requested an international bailout in return for budget cuts and an economic overhaul that cost him his job, political instability still haunts Greece. If the leftist Syriza party wins the election on May 25, as opinion polls project, the blow may undo the coalition led by New Democracy and unravel the fragile progress toward stability.

“Political risk remains high,” according to the report. “An early general election in 1Q15 is the most likely scenario, although a snap election this year cannot be discounted.” (full article Bloomberg)

Greece holds European Parliament and a second round of local and regional elections on Sunday. Public opinion polls suggest a SYRIZA win the the EU elections and a defeat for Samaras’ coalition government partner PASOK. Should the socialists receive rates around 5%, not only Venizelos threatened to withdraw form the government, but there is a high risk for the government as it holds a very thin majority of 152 seats in a Parliament of 300.

PS Fitch upgraded Greece today. Not last or next Monday… they were rating the public opinion polls apparently lol