Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Greece Sinking

See:

Rescuers battle blaze, elements off Greek coast

Death toll in the Greek ferry fire rises to 10

Also see: Greek Election

"Romania’s new president sworn in with promise to fight corruption" by Alison MutlerAssociated Press  December 22, 2014

BUCHAREST —  In Greece on Sunday, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offered to set a date for early elections toward the end of next year. He is seeking to rally lawmakers behind the government’s candidate for president in a crucial vote this week.

On Tuesday, the Greek Parliament will hold the second in a three-stage ballot in the presidential vote, which Samaras called this month. There have been claims that lawmakers have been offered bribes to back the government candidate, Stavros Dimas.

The country is drowning in corruption.

A victory by Dimas would be tantamount to a vote of confidence in Samaras’s coalition, which is working with international creditors to help keep credit flowing in the nation.

But with just 155 seats in the 300-member Parliament, the government is certain to fall far short of the 200 votes required to approve Dimas. In the final ballot next Monday, the threshold for approval falls to 180 votes. If Dimas fails to garner at least 180 votes, a special general election will be called. According to opinion polls, the leftist party Syriza, which opposes the terms of the country’s bailouts, would win early elections, potentially throwing the country’s economic course into disarray. 

Expect a rigging like before.

Meanwhile, Romania’s Parliament swore in a former mayor as the country’s new president after an election he called a triumph for democracy 25 years after communism ended.

Pro-Western Klaus Iohannis, 55, promises a different style from combative outgoing leader Traian Basescu, who left office Sunday having served 10 years.

Iohannis vowed to fight corruption and build ‘‘a powerful nation,’’ as he took an oath Sunday before Parliament, then headed to the presidential palace to formally take over from Basescu.

‘‘Mentalities must be chang-ed,’’ he told lawmakers and dignitaries. ‘‘I want a Romania where there is no place for putting on a show’’ in politics.

He surprisingly defeated Prime Minister Victor Ponta in the Nov. 16 runoff, tapping into anger from thousands of overseas voters who were unable to vote in the first round. Iohannis received hundreds of thousands of votes from Romanians who work abroad, which he called ‘‘a triumph for democracy.’’

I've still got plenty.

Related: Romania Pontas 

Time for me to kick, too.

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"Presidential vote falls short in Greece" New York Times  December 24, 2014

ATHENS — Greece’s Parliament failed Tuesday to elect a new president in the second of three rounds of voting that will either enable the coalition government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to remain in power or lead to a general election and new political and financial upheaval.

The coalition’s candidate, Stavros Dimas, performed better than expected, raising the government’s hopes before the final round of voting next Monday, though he still fell short of the majority required.

The government has put in place an economic program that includes unpopular austerity measures demanded by Greece’s international creditors. If an election were called, opinion polls suggest that a leftist party that opposes those measures would win.

A total of 168 lawmakers in Greece’s 300-seat Parliament backed Dimas, a former European commissioner, with 131 voting against him and one absent. The support was short of the 200 votes needed in the second round of voting. But the backing for Dimas rose from the 160 amassed in the first round last week and was closer to the 180 votes required next week, when the threshold for approval drops.

The increase in support followed an offer by Samaras on Sunday to set a date for early elections toward the end of next year — before his coalition’s term ends in June 2016 — in exchange for support for his presidential candidate. Samaras also proposed broadening his government to include “pro-European personalities” in a bid to appeal to undecided opposition lawmakers.

The Samaras coalition controls 155 of the Greek Parliament’s 300 seats. If the government’s candidate fails to attract the votes needed in the third round, elections will be called for late January or early February.

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"Greece heading to early elections after presidential vote fails" by Niki Kitsantonis, New York Times  December 30, 2014

ATHENS — Greece’s Parliament failed to elect a new president Monday in the final round of a three-stage vote, paving the way for early general elections that could open the door to a leftist party that opposes the terms of the country’s international bailouts.

They oppose the debt en$lavement that comes with them.

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“The country has no time to lose,” Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said. “We did what we could to elect a president and avert early elections and the dangers they entail. Now, what Parliament failed to do, the people must do.”

Speaking after the vote, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the opposition Syriza party that is ahead in opinion polls, was jubilant and called it “a historic day for Greek democracy.”

Don't let them steal it this time.

“Greek MPs showed that democracy cannot be blackmailed, however much pressure is exerted,” he said. “Today the government of Mr. Samaras, which has looted society for the past 2½ years, belongs to the past.”

The new political upheaval in Greece has not caused panic like that felt across the eurozone in 2012, when it seemed possible that the country could be forced to abandon the euro, which shook the bloc that shares that currency.

The prospect of elections has unsettled international markets and Greece’s creditors, however, because the leftist Syriza, which has pledged to renegotiate the country’s international bailouts and to seek a write-down of Greece’s huge debt, is expected to win.

Polls show the leftists firmly ahead of Samaras’ conservative New Democracy party, although Syriza’s lead has narrowed as the prospect of protracted political and financial uncertainty has grown.

The FIX is IN AGAIN!

In an interview with state television over the weekend, Samaras pushed opposition legislators to align with the government in Monday’s vote, saying that failing to elect a president would be “political blackmail” and would result in “pointless upheaval” for the country.

Despite furious lobbying by the government, the governing coalition’s candidate, Stavros Dimas, a former European commissioner, received only 168 votes, the same number as in the second ballot last week and eight more than in the first vote on Dec. 17.

Samaras accused Syriza of “foolish bravado,” adding that the leftists’ economic program was “full of unilateral moves” that would jeopardize the country’s fragile return to growth.

Meaning the bankers will bend them over but good!

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Early elections could be held on Jan. 25.

RelatedThe euro trades at nearly a two-year low amid Greece’s turmoil

Nothing to fear, though.

LAST DAY UPDATES:

"Stock market slips amid worry about Greece

Lingering concerns about the political future of Greece pushed US and global stock markets lower amid slow trading ahead of the holiday. Greek stocks stabilized on Tuesday following Monday’s volatility, after the government was forced to call elections that could create more economic turmoil. ‘An election puts all sorts of doubt on the future of the bailout agreement,’ said one market strategist. Stocks were expected to be quiet on Wednesday. In other markets, the dollar fell against the euro and yen. Gold continued its march higher. Silver and copper also rose."

Money and its tie to politics are very important, but life is more preciou$:

"Italian prosecutors order ferry back to Italy" Associated Press  December 31, 2014

BRINDISI, Italy — Italian authorities warned Tuesday that more bodies will probably be found when the blackened hulk of a Greek ferry is towed to Italy, as part of a criminal investigation amid confusion over the number of missing due to huge discrepancies between the names on the manifest and those rescued.

The fire-tinged Norman Atlantic was adrift for a third day off the Albanian coast, where two sailors were killed earlier Tuesday when a tow line attempting to secure it to a tugboat apparently snapped, Albanian officials said. Three of the victims were Italian truck drivers who worked for the Naples-based Eurofish company and had gone to pick up eel shipments in Greece.

More than 400 people were rescued from the ferry, most in daring, nighttime helicopter sorties amid high winds and seas, after a fire broke out before dawn Sunday on a car deck. Both Italian and Greek authorities have announced criminal investigations into the cause of the blaze.

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Greek maritime officials, meanwhile, revealed that the first word about the problems on board the ship came from a passenger, not the crew....

Uh-oh.

Meanwhile, Italian authorities took control Tuesday of a cargo ship carrying hundreds of migrants after the crew disappeared and set it on a programmed route to crash into a coast, officials said.

The alarm was first raised about the Moldovan-flagged Blue Sky M after a passenger sent a distress call Tuesday when the ship was off Greece.

Again? For real?

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Time for me to ship on out.