LOCAL ELECTIONS IN GREECE: KKE INCREASES ITS VOTE SHARE

LOCAL and regional elections were held in Greece on November 7. People voted to elect representatives for 13 regions and 325 municipalities. In the first round of the elections, nationwide the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) secured around 11 per cent of the vote share. The KKE was the only party which saw an increase in its percentage of the vote (+3.3 per cent) and in actual votes (+75,000) in relation to last year’s parliamentary elections (2009).

KKE fought the elections on the agenda of its opposition to the so-called 'austerity' measures pursued by the Social Democratic PASOK government. The electoral performance of the KKE is a result of the struggles waged by the KKE along with PAME and other mass organisations against the IMF and EU sponsored 'austerity' measures implemented by the government. The second round of elections are scheduled for November 14.

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M) in a message congratulated the KKE and hoped that the results achieved by it would further strengthen the party and help in intensifying the struggles against the anti-people measures of the Greece government.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org
People’s Democracy
Vol. XXXIV, No. 46, November 14, 2010