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White House hails Greek vote, urges quick coalition government
The White House on Sunday hailed the results of Greece’s parliamentary elections, which showed voters favoring a party committed to remaining within the Eurozone, and called for leaders to quickly form a new government.
“We congratulate the Greek people on conducting their election in this difficult time. We hope this election will lead quickly to the formation of a new government that can make timely progress on the economic challenges facing the Greek people,” said the White House in a written statement.
Sunday’s Greek parliamentary vote was expected to determine whether the country would remain in the Eurozone or exit, a move which Washington and Wall Street feared could drag down an already weakened American economy.
Reports said that the center-right New Democracy party was leading in early results. New Democracy leaders have said they would like to renegotiate some terms of the bailout package backed by the International Monetary Fund and European Union, but were committed to keeping the euro as currency.
Early returns showed populist and leftist parties which rejected the austerity package and were keen on forcing a confrontation with the IMF and EU trailing in the vote.
With voters pinning the economy as the most important issue in November’s general elections, the Obama administration feared that continued uncertainty in Europe or a move by Greece to leave the single currency would take a toll on the U.S. economy.
Europe’s struggles with its debt crisis have already entered into the U.S. election, with Obama blaming the continent for creating “headwinds” for the American economy.
On Sunday, senior White House adviser David Plouffe again highlighted the importance of Europe’s economy to the U.S. recovery, saying the continuing debt crisis was taking its toll. “This is affecting our economy. This is affecting the global economy,” he said.
But despite an election result the White House is cheering, administration officials are adamant that Europe’s leaders will need to resolve their debt crisis and their statement Sunday pressured Greek leaders to form a coalition government quickly.
“This is the Europeans' responsibility to solve this, and it's within their power to do so,” Plouffe had said earlier Sunday.
Republicans for their part have pointed to Greece’s troubles as a warning sign, calling on the administration to better rein in spending and using it to bash the president’s economic policies.
“I wish that over the last three-and-half-years that the president would have taken action to rebuild the basis of our economy, its foundation, get it on such a strong footing that the challenges in Europe as they occur wouldn’t have as significant an impact as they might otherwise,” presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney said on Sunday.
Sunday’s Greek election was the second in a little over a month. A coalition government which signed a bailout agreement with the IMF and EU lost its grip on power, and after elections, parties were unable to form a new governing coalition, requiring a second trip to the polls.
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