Voting is under way in Greece’s general election, with opinion polls indicating a tight race between the left-wing incumbent Syriza party and the conservative New Democracy.<\/p>\n
The snap election, Greece’s fifth in six years, was called after Syriza lost its parliamentary majority in August.<\/p>\n
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras’s popularity plummeted after he agreed a new bailout deal with European leaders.<\/p>\n
The bailout involved austerity measures which Syriza had vowed to oppose.<\/p>\n
Greece is mired in a deep financial crisis and whoever wins Sunday’s election will have to oversee further tough economic reforms.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Richard Galpin in Athens says whichever party wins is unlikely to get enough seats to form a government alone.<\/p>\n
That could mean a period of political instability just as deadlines loom for the implementation of a series of key financial reforms, he adds.<\/p>\n
Most opinion polls indicate the conservative party New Democracy and Syriza are running very close.<\/p>\n
But unlike last January’s election, there is little excitement about Sunday’s vote; campaigning has been lacklustre and the response of the electorate muted.<\/p>\n
Syriza’s high noon has passed, the party and its leader bruised by their experience in government.<\/p>\n
Mr Tsipras’s decision to abandon the anti-austerity stance which had propelled him into government, and instead sign a bailout deal with Greece’s European creditors, fractured Syriza, with 25 MPs setting up their own parliamentary party.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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