Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-04-09

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Election night - Thriller

[02] Caretaker interior minister praises problem-free election

[03] Elections - Exit polls

[04] Polling stations open

[01] Election night - Thriller

An election-night ?thriller? is apparently in store for Greece Sunday evening, as results at around 10:15 p.m. gave both ruling PASOK and main opposition New Democracy around 44 percent of the vote with just more than 10.5 percent of the total ballot calculated.

[02] Caretaker interior minister praises problem-free election

GreeceĒs caretaker interior minister praised the organization and climate governing the April 9 general elections in Greece, following the closing of polls in the Mediterranean nation of 11 million.

?AllĒs well that ends well? The elections were held in an impeccable manner. No significant delays were recorded and weĒre now counting the votes,? caretaker Interior Minister Giorgos Koumantos said.

As far as the nationwide vote tally for the state deputiesĒ slate, Koumantos said the figure would be released only when the election result is irreversible.

?The difference is small and thatĒs why the result may come late,? he added.

Election polls throughout Greece closed at exactly 7 p.m., following 12 hours of voting. It was generally accepted only a few hours after the end of voting that nary a problem was recorded in the voting procedures.

[03] Elections - Exit polls

Exit polls by Greece's television stations were released just after 7 p.m. on Sunday for the April 9 general elections.

State-run ERT network predicted a slim victory for ruling PASOK with 43.2 percent against 42.9 for the main opposition New Democracy party (ND), followed by 5.3 percent for the Communist Party of Greece, 3.7 percent for the Coalition of Left and Progress (SYN), and 2.8 percent for the Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI). Some 2.1 percent went for the remaining smaller parties.

However, most predictions by the country's private channels gave ND the lead with varying margins, all small.

Specifically, Alpha TV predicted a slim victory for ND with 42.2-43.2 percent against 41.4-42.4 for PASOK, followed by 5.5-6.1 for the KKE, 3.8-4.4 percent for SYN and 2.6-3.1 for DHKKI.

Antenna recorded PASOK and ND neck and neck with 41.7-44.1 percent for PASOK, 41.6-44.0 percent for ND, 4.4-5.6 for KKE, 3.3-4.5 for SYN, 2.1-3.1 for DHKKI and 2.3-3.3 percent for the other parties.

Mega Channel gave 41.5-44.0 percent for PASOK against 42.5-44.5 for ND, followed by 5.5-6.0 for KKE 3.0-4.0 for SYN and 2.0-3.0 percent for DHKKI.

Star channel predicted an ND victory with 43.2 percent against 42.4 percent for PASOK, followed by 5.3 for KKE, 3.7 for SYN, 2.8 percent for DHKKI, as well as 2.1 percent for other parties.

A minimum of 3 percent nationwide is required for a party to gain a seat in the 300-member parliament.

The parties represented in the previous parliament, by order of seats controlled, were PASOK (162 seats with 41.49 percent in the September 1996 general elections), ND (108 seats with 38.12 percent), KKE (11 seats with 5.60 percent), SYN (10 seats with 5.12 percent), and DHKKI (9 seats with 4.44 percent).

A total of 26 political parties, including the five represented in the previous parliament, contested Sunday's general elections.

[04] Polling stations open

A total of 18,959 polling stations opened throughout the country at 7:00 a.m. for 8,976,135 registered voters called on to elect a new government and 300 Members of Parliament from among 26 competing political parties. A minimum of three percent nationwide is required for a party to gain a seat in parliament. The electoral body comprises 4,593,955 (or 51.2 percent) women and 4,382,180 (48.8 percent) men. Caretaker justice and interior ministers Dimitris Gourgourakis and George Koumantos said in the early afternoon that the voting process was proceeding smoothly and in a civilised manner in all parts of the country.

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