ATHENS, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Greece's opposition Radical Left SYRIZA party celebrated a "historic" first victory in the elections for the European Parliament in Greece on Sunday, but failed to overshadow the conservative-led ruling coalition in the parallel local polls.
The results of the double polls sent mixed messages to both the two-partite coalition and the opposition that most likely a cabinet reshuffle is on the horizon rather than early general elections as SYRIZA requested, political analysts in Athens said on Monday.
SYRIZA won about 26.6 percent of votes or six seats out of 21 allocated to Greece in the European Parliament polls in the country, against 22.7 percent or five seats for the New Democracy (ND) party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, with 95 percent of the total votes counted.
However, the ND dominated the local polls which were held in two rounds on May 18 and May 25, winning eight of the total 13 regions and the majority of the 325 contested municipal councils across the country.
Samaras' socialist partners of PASOK which run under the electoral alliance of Elia (Olive Tree) also stood firm garnering 8 percent of votes in the European Parliament elections after the far-Right Golden Dawn party won 9.3 percent and three seats in the European Parliament.
SYRIZA's leader Alexis Tsipras called for snap elections in his first comments on the result and requested a meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
"Democracy demands the popular verdict as soon as possible," he said.
During the pre-election campaign, SYRIZA had sought to turn the double polls into a referendum on the bailout deals and the government's policy and to stay in office.
On the other hand, for the government which was arguing that a vote in support of anti-bailout forces would trigger political instability that jeopardizes the progress achieved in economic recovery, there is no issue of early polls.
The government coalition's stability is not in question. The headlines on the front pages of Greek dailies on Monday morning reflected this climate.
Political analysts expected an imminent cabinet reshuffle and a slight shift of some policies -- always within the framework of bailout deals with international lenders -- to ease the pain of four-year austerity and six-year recession, but no dramatic changes in the political landscape.
Samaras late Sunday reaffirmed his conservative-led coalition government's firm rejection of SYRIZA's call for snap general elections following the latter's lead in Sunday's elections for the European parliament, according to the first official results.
"The Greek people sent a message to the government, but rejected SYRIZA's call for overturning," Samaras said late Sunday commenting on the polling, with about 35 percent of total votes counted.
If the outcome is confirmed by the final official results which are expected on Monday evening, SYRIZA can secure six seats in the European parliament against five for the ND.
The two-party coalition government withstood the double electoral test of the elections for the European parliament and local administration and remains a "guarantor of stability to exit the economic crisis," the prime minister said.
He argued that SYRIZA has attempted in vain to turn the double May 25 elections into a referendum on the bailout deals, as well as the government's economic policy and its fate.
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