Off the wire
• Extension line of China's first high-speed railway starts running  • Urgent: Voting starts in Greek general elections  • China's anti-graft body to supervise more central organs  • Lock-up shares worth 25.1 bln yuan to become tradable  • China condemns terrorist attack in NW Pakistan  • Mexico commemorates 30th anniversary of tragic 8.1-earthquake  • 41-year-old Kenyan veteran Kipchumba wins 2015 Beijing Marathon  • Results of 2015 Beijing Marathon  • Kipchumba, Cherenet win 2015 Beijing Marathon  • (Xi's U.S. visit) Spotlight: China, U.S. pin high hopes on Xi's visit for breakthrough in BIT talks  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: Voting starts in Greek general elections

Xinhua, September 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Greek voters started casting their ballots Sunday in the second general elections this year to elect a new government that will implement the latest three-year bailout agreed in the summer with international creditors.

Polling stations are open early in the morning. About 9.8 million citizens of 18 years and above registered to vote in 19,457 polling stations nationwide. New voters are 108,464 new voters.

With both the front runners, the Radical Left SYRIZA party of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the conservative New Democracy (ND) party led by Evangelos Meimarakis, as well as several smaller parties committed to the implementation of the bailout this time as Greece's last chance to exit the five year crisis, enthusiasm and passion are lacking.

SYRIZA and ND were almost tied in all opinion surveys conducted over the past month with the Leftists gaining a slight lead within the marginal error in the final stretch, according to pollsters. Endi