GREEK TURMOIL: HERE WE GO AGAIN

National elections in Greece will probably be held on Jan. 25, 2015, that’s just weeks before Greece’s € 240 billion bailout expires.. The trigger for the elections was the failure at the third and final attempt of Samaras’s bid to push through his nominee for president, Stavros Dimas. Dimas attracted the support of 168 lawmakers in the 300-seat chamber, short of the 180 votes required

Syriza, which opposes austerity measures imposed in return for outside aid, leads Samaras’s New Democracy movement in opinion polls. These elections will be a struggle between fear for euro exit and anger against austerity. The government will be emphasizing the risks associated with Syriza’s anti-bailout stance and Syriza will try to convince voters that it can offer a viable alternative, without endangering the country’s Euro membership.

 Syriza pledges to annul the bailout agreement and vows to renegotiate repayment terms on loans from Euro Member States and on Greek bonds held by the European Central Bank. It does not advocate an exit from the euro area. Syriza’s program includes blackmailing the European Union by not paying the debt Greece owes to European countries. It also includes significant increases in salaries, pensions, and the number of civil servants. None of these actions are feasible with Greece in the euro zone.