In the Greek Parliament today, the Coalition Government's candidate for the Presidency did not obtain the required number of votes. Antonis Samaras, the Prime Minister therefore proposed an early General Election, which could even be held as early as January 25, 2015 !
Syriza is the biggest party of the radical left Coalition and its leader, 40 year old Alexis Tsipras, has clearly stated that he wants a renegotiation of the loans Greece has obtained from the EUROZONE. To be quite clear, he wants a reduction of the debt, because Greece cannot afford to repay it on present conditions !
He has, in recent months, proposed other radical policy changes to improve the conditions of the poorest people in Greece. Just how far he will go if, as expected, he and the Radical Left win the Election, is less clear.
The EUROZONE is now faced with the possibility that Greece alone could decide to abandon the EURO ! Writing-off debt is always unpleasant but increasing debt with more loans to Greece is even worse ! This could also become a dangerous "precedent" !
There are already other countries which are closely watching this crisis unfold !
Will the EUROZONE, as a result, now review its current policies and conditions prior to granting bail-out loans to help countries overcome temporary economic difficulties ? Could this not also require modifying even sacrosanct principles in EU Treaties ?
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