Greeks angered by a vicious and protracted financial crisis punished their two main parties in national elections Sunday, with exit polls projecting no party gaining enough votes to form a government.
The conservative New Democracy party appeared the most likely to win the top spot, while the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn seemed set to gain parliamentary seats for the first time. Days of talks are likely to ensue as parties attempt to hammer out a governing coalition.
The election will determine the country’s course after years of austerity measures that have outraged voters but which were critical in convincing international creditors to extend Greece billions in loans to keep its debt-saddled economy afloat.
Greece is heavily dependent on billions of euros worth of international rescue loans from other European countries and the International Monetary Fund, and must impose yet more austerity measures next month to keep the bailout funds flowing and prevent a default and a potentially disastrous exit from the group of nations that use the euro currency.
According to updated exit poll figures an hour and a half after polls closed, New Democracy was projected to win 19-20.5 percent, followed by the leftist Radical Left Coalition, or Syriza, with 15.5-17 percent.