Greek vote could unleash seismic shocks for euro

Page last updated at 17:00 GMT, Saturday, June 16, 2012 - 22:00 EST

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Reuters:

A pre-election poster seen at a bus shelter in Athens June 16, 2012. Greece holds general parliamentary elections on June 17.

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Greece's election on Sunday is too close to call and could push the debt-ridden country out of the European single currency, rocking the euro to its core and sowing turmoil in global financial markets.

The election, a re-run of a May 6 vote that ended in stalemate, amounts to a referendum on the punishing terms set by international lenders as the price of saving Greece from bankruptcy - withering tax hikes, job losses and pay cuts that have helped condemn Greeks to five years of record recession.

Riding a wave of anger to rise from political obscurity to contender for power, radical leftist SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras is threatening to tear up the terms of the 130 billion euro ($163.75 billion) bailout.

Tsipras says Europe cannot afford to cut Greece loose and cope with the fallout for the rest of the 17-member euro zone.

On the right, establishment heir and New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras says rejection of the EU/IMF bailout would mean a return to the drachma and even greater economic calamity.

Samaras told supporters on Friday they faced a stark choice - "euro versus drachma."

Neither party is expected to win outright, triggering coalition negotiations with smaller parties. A new government would buy time, but little respite. Whoever comes to power may find their tenure is short-lived.

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