On June 17, 2012, results of a national Greek election came in, showing that the New Democracy political party received 30 percent of the votes. The political party, which supports a bailout of the euro, and its success has eased international fears over a potential financial crumble.
“[The results of the election are] really good,” Jemimah Yi, freshman at Santa Monica Community College, said. “It shows growth. Greece is recovering.”
The euro was expected to collapse should Greece reject the currency. But this recent move by Greece has alleviated fears and investors are reinvesting in the euro. At the current time, the euro is currently valued at a rate similar to, if not higher than, the American dollar.
Even so, the election of New Democracy is far from being a panacea to Greece’s problems. There are still very real issues that need to be addressed by this political party, at the peril of the nation’s economy and wellbeing. From the significant debt situation that Greece is in to its recession, many of its problems are linked to fiscal issues which have yet to be solved. Many previous attempts to relieve the situation have often gone awry.
Results to the news have been mostly positive. The New Democracy party plans to keep the euro in Greece, a fact that may ease international financial markets and concerns expressed worldwide over Greece’s possible rejection of the euro, should other political parties gain the majority of the vote. Asian markets have skyrocketed as confidence in the euro increased. New Democracy’s success can be attributed to want for Greece to stay in the European zone, by maintaining its currency and position. Greece will continue to receive international aid, or so it is projected, under the guidance of New Democracy. By doing so, Greece will be able to pay interest on its debts.
Had the party lost, the Syriza political party would have likely one. A left-wing party, the plan would have been to oppose the euro currency, which would have wrecked Europe in a “doomsday prospect,” according to the New York Times.
“This problem is important; it had the ability to wreck economies everywhere,” Yi continued. “We’re sort of away from that, but at the same time we still have an issue.”
