ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece must shame corrupt politicians, cap immigration and be tougher on Turkey, far-right leader George Karatzaferis said ahead of an October 4 election where he is seen gaining support. Karatzaferis' Popular Orthodox Alarm party (LA.O.S) has ridden a wave of discontent with corruption and economic hardships to win up to 6.4 percent of support in opinion polls, after becoming in 2007 the first far-right group to enter Greek parliament since the return to democracy in 1974. "People are angry ... we are heading to elections and no one has been punished, or at least, exposed," the former bodybuilder and journalist told Reuters in an interview. "The most constructive way would be to reveal the names. If names were revealed, the rest would be afraid of the public humiliation." After coming to power in 2004 on a promise to clean up Greek politics after decades of socialist graft, the outgoing conservatives have themselves been shaken by scandals, an issue much highlighted by LA.O.S in election pamphlets.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece must shame corrupt politicians, cap immigration and be tougher on Turkey, far-right leader George Karatzaferis said ahead of an October 4 election where he is seen gaining support.
Karatzaferis' Popular Orthodox Alarm party (LA.O.S) has ridden a wave of discontent with corruption and economic hardships to win up to 6.4 percent of support in opinion polls, after becoming in 2007 the first far-right group to enter Greek parliament since the return to democracy in 1974.
"People are angry ... we are heading to elections and no one has been punished, or at least, exposed," the former bodybuilder and journalist told Reuters in an interview. "The most constructive way would be to reveal the names. If names were revealed, the rest would be afraid of the public humiliation."
After coming to power in 2004 on a promise to clean up Greek politics after decades of socialist graft, the outgoing conservatives have themselves been shaken by scandals, an issue much highlighted by LA.O.S in election pamphlets.
Maybe it's sorta like that "Schiller sprach zu Goethe, Steck in dem Arsch die Flöte! Goethe sagte zu Schiller, Mein Arsch ist kein Triller!"
Greek elections have traditionally been raucous, ebullient affairs, a true celebration of democracy in the country that gave birth to the concept. This year, the mood is noticeably more sombre ahead of Sunday's vote. Colourful elections kiosks at main squares stand nearly empty, attracting few voters. The chat at cafes and on the Internet usually centres on voters' disappointment with politics as a whole for failing to fight corruption and put the economy on a steady growth path. "Our expectations were dashed," said financial analyst George Kaisarios on the NewsTime blog. "The three pylons of our development strategy in the last decade, euro zone entry, Olympic Games and credit expansion, have been wasted. And unfortunately for all of us, there is nothing on the horizon to replace them." One mood damper for Greek voters is that Oct 4 election is another big battle between the political dynasties trapped in an endlessly revolving door of political rule, with few fresh faces to excite the crowds. The heirs to Greece's two most prominent political families are facing off for the third time. Socialist opposition leader George Papandreou seems set to wrestle power back from conservative New Democracy Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis after 5 years, according to the last published opinion polls.
Greek elections have traditionally been raucous, ebullient affairs, a true celebration of democracy in the country that gave birth to the concept. This year, the mood is noticeably more sombre ahead of Sunday's vote. Colourful elections kiosks at main squares stand nearly empty, attracting few voters. The chat at cafes and on the Internet usually centres on voters' disappointment with politics as a whole for failing to fight corruption and put the economy on a steady growth path.
"Our expectations were dashed," said financial analyst George Kaisarios on the NewsTime blog. "The three pylons of our development strategy in the last decade, euro zone entry, Olympic Games and credit expansion, have been wasted. And unfortunately for all of us, there is nothing on the horizon to replace them."
One mood damper for Greek voters is that Oct 4 election is another big battle between the political dynasties trapped in an endlessly revolving door of political rule, with few fresh faces to excite the crowds.
The heirs to Greece's two most prominent political families are facing off for the third time. Socialist opposition leader George Papandreou seems set to wrestle power back from conservative New Democracy Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis after 5 years, according to the last published opinion polls.
