Source: www.vox.com - Monday, December 29, 2014 Greece is headed for new elections in early 2015, after the ruling coalition's candidate for president (a largely ceremonial job) failed to get the 180 votes in parliament he needed. The Greek stock market is off over five percent and Greek bond yields are rising as a result. The election will be held on January 25. Current polling shows the incumbent coalition likely to do quite poorly in a new election, which gave opposition parties little incentive to cooperate. Background: Bailouts and Austerity In theory, the issue in today's parliamentary vote was the nomination of former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas to hold the not-very-powerful job of President of the Hellenic Republic. The real issue, however, is the question of bailouts and austerity. Since 2012, Greece has been led by a coalition headed by the main center-right party, New Democracy. New Democracy has been joined in coalition by PASOK, which is traditionally the main left-of-center party, but which in recent years has been surpassed in the polls by the far-left Syriza. The New Democracy / PASOK coalition is also supported by a small left-wing party, the Democratic Left. The mission of this coalition has been to implement the austerity budgets and labor-market reforms — including various tax hikes, a 30 percent cut in pensions, and legal changes to make mass layoffs easier, with more to come — demanded by the European Commission in Brussels and the European CentralAll Related | More on Greece
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