''It was a night of high drama, after a tense pre-election period that often descended into violence. By the end of it, Greek voters had narrowly given the pro-bailout forces one last stab at salvaging the adjustment program with Greece’s creditors and avoiding a disastrous exit from the euro. This has bought the country some time. It must now make the best possible use of it.
The first step will be the formation of a government as soon as possible. According to the election results, the conservative New Democracy got 29.7 percent of the vote and 129 out of 300 seats in parliament. Along with third-place PASOK (12.3 percent, 33 seats) and the Democratic Left (6.3 percent, 17 seats), the numbers are there to set up a coalition government with a strong majority and a clear mandate to renegotiate some elements of the bailout program. SYRIZA, the surging hard-left party which garnered an unprecedented 26.9 percent of the vote on an aggressive anti-bailout platform, has already made it clear that it will not participate in any coalition led by New Democracy and will focus instead on its new role as the official opposition..''
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