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[1] (September 14, 2015)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthaafpg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CRS INSIGHT Election in Greece September 14, 2015 (IN10356) Paul Belkin, Analyst in European Affairs (Dbelkinars . lo , 7-0220) Fourth Election in Three Years Reflects Ongoing Political Instability Greece will hold a snap legislative election on September 20, only eight months after the country's last election. The new election comes as Greece continues to struggle with the negative repercussions of a sovereign debt and financial crisis that began in 2009. Over the past six years, Greece's economy has contracted by 25% and unemployment has tripled to above 25%. Economic challenges have in turn shaken the political system. This will be Greece's fourth parliamentary election since May 2012. Since 2009, the country has had six different governments (including two caretaker governments). Each has struggled-and three have collapsed-in the face of growing public and political pressure to halt the spending cuts, tax increases, and economic reforms that have been implemented in exchange for financial assistance from other European governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). For more information on the Greek debt crisis and the European response, see CRS Report R41167, Greece's Debt Crisis: Overvew. Policy-Res onses and Jralications; and CRS Insight IN10303, Crisis in Greece: Political Inmtlications. Why the Snap Election? Incumbent Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took office in January 2015 following a campaign in which his far-left Syriza party pledged to reverse austerity measures and secure debt relief from creditors, but remain in the European Union's (EU) common currency, the Eurozone. This position ultimately proved untenable-Greece's creditors insisted that the government continue fiscal and structural reforms in exchange for the financial assistance Greece needed to stay in the Eurozone. In mid-July, after Athens failed to make scheduled payments to the IMF and was forced to enact capital controls on Greek banks, Tsipras reversed course and accepted creditors' terms in exchange for a pack= that he believed would ensure continued Eurozone membership. Many Syriza members opposed the decision and withdrew their support for Tsipras. Faced with this loss of confidence, but buoyed by his apparent continued DQpuiaritvwith Greek voters, Tsipras chose to resign on August 20 and seek a new popular mandate. Key Policy Issues, Main Political Parties, and Poll Numbers The short election campaign has centered almost exclusively on the economy and candidates' positions on the fiscal and structural reforms outlined in the financial assistance package agreed in July. Four of the six or seven parties expected to meet the 3% voter threshold required to be elected to the 300-member parliament say they are committed to the reform program, which they deem necessary for Greece to remain a member of the Eurozone. All acknowledge to varying degrees, however, that the measures could continue to exacerbate negative economic conditions in the short term. Greece's economic struggles are affecting the government's ability to address other policy challenges, including a strapped healthcare system and an unpreced ent influx of migrants and refugees. Over the past year, Greece has become the primary entry point to Europe for individuals from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq; an estimated 310,000 of

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