Shock result - Oman Daily Observer

By Christine Pirovolakis -
GREEKS woke up to massive political instability yesterday after delivering a stinging rejection of the country's mainstream parties in parliamentary elections and the austerity programme they support.
"I woke up this morning in shock — first my country is without a government and secondly, we have allowed an extreme fascist party into parliament — if this is not a nightmare of chaos and instability than I do not know what else is," said 37-year nurse Matina Stergiou.
Fed-up with nearly two years of repeated pension and income cuts as well as tax hikes, Greeks took out their rage in parliamentary elections on Sunday by casting their votes to the left and right and punishing big mainstream parties by failing to give them enough votes to govern alone.
"Vote of Fury," said the popular Ethnos newspaper, saying the lack of government had turned Greece upside-down, whilst leading Kathimerini newspaper's headline splashed "In Search of a Government" Party leaders began coalition negotiations yesterday but the political deadlock, which is expected to last for weeks, could end up putting the indebted country's future in the euro zone at risk.
If the stalemate is not resolved soon, the country will face fresh elections under a caretaker government in mid-June — exactly around the time it will need to come up with an additional 11 billion euros of additional austerity measures and another assessment of its reform progress by inspectors from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"Right now there is a possibility of forming a coalition government — but the most probable scenario is that the country will be forced to go to a second round of elections," Gerasimos Kouzelis, a professor in the political science department at Athens University said.
"It is clear that the people do not want to follow the policies anymore of the two traditional parties — thus there is a strong possibility at this point for negotiations to take place on the terms and measures of the bailout deals — this is a solution which has some chances of occurring."
After receiving the mandate to start negotiations from President Karolos Papoulias, Samaras will have three days to come up with a coalition. But that appears to be increasingly unlikely because even with the support of the only other clearly pro-bailout party elected, PASOK, New Democracy would fall two seats short of a governing majority.