Fringe parties tug at Greek power slate ahead of election

Page last updated at 02:50 GMT, Friday, May 4, 2012 - 07:50 EST

USA Today:

A member of New Democracy Party shouts slogans during Antonis Samaras' speech at the Zappeio conference hall in Athens ...

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Furious Greek voters are promising to punish ruling parties for the nation's awful economy by voting for fringe candidates who vow to end benefit and spending cuts that the EU demanded in return for a debt bailout to stabilize Europe.

The election has European Union leaders deeply worried over Greek commitments to austerity measures that are increasingly being questioned around Europe and, if broken, could rattle social stability and economies.

"Most of the MPs and ministers are old wolves in the Greek arena of politics," said Theodore Pelagidis, professor of economic analysis at the University of Piraeus in Greece. "They are full of the sins of everything that the country got so wrong. They are culprits, and the people know that."

Polls indicate that Sunday's election may change the political landscape for the first time in four decades. Socialist PASOK and conservative New Democracy, parties that usually win more than 70% of the vote, may drop below 40%, according to the latest polls. That has not happened since the 1970s.

"The policies of these two big parties is why we're in this crisis," said Lefteris Labrianidis, 27, a medical student in Athens. "This leads us to think of voting for something new, a party that hasn't been given a chance to show what it can do. "

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