Greek local elections national test for PM Papandreou

Greek local elections national test for PM Papandreou
By Malcolm Brabant BBC News, Athens
Yiannis Dimaras election poster Yiannis Dimaras used to be a ruling party MP - now he could win as an independent
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Greece is set to vote in crucial municipal elections.

The main political parties are calling them as a referendum on the socialist government's handling of the economic crisis.

The austerity measures the government has imposed in return for international help mean local issues take back seat.

Prime Minister George Papandreou has hinted strongly that he may call a general election if his party suffers big losses.

This is supposed to be an election to determine who runs the recently enlarged and supposedly more streamlined local authorities.

But instead of parochial matters, the issue which dominates this election is Greece's economic crisis, and the austerity measures the government has been forced to impose in return for accepting the enormous international financial bail-out package.

Although the prime minister and his Pasok socialist party have a comfortable majority in parliament, Mr Papandreou has warned he may call a snap general election, three years before his term runs out, if his candidates get a drubbing.

Talk of what many observers believe would be a completely unnecessary election has unsettled the international markets.

They fear political instability would threaten the austerity programme, aimed at reducing the deficit and national debt, and that Greece would be more likely to default.
Protest votes

Mr Papandreou's decision about a general election could hinge on what happens in the race for the prefecture of Attica, the region surrounding Athens where almost half of Greece's population lives.

The Pasok candidate is expected to be defeated by an independent called Yiannis Dimaras.
George Papandreou (file picture) Papandreou says he wants to be sure he has popular support

He used to be an MP for the ruling party but was expelled by Mr Papandreou after he voted against the International Monetary Fund rescue deal.

Mr Dimaras is expected to draw protest votes from people who would normally support the ruling socialists, but who are angry about tax rises and cuts in wages and pensions.

Antonis Samaras, the leader of the main opposition Conservative party, claims Mr Papandreou wants a general election because he can't cope with the stress of leading the country through the economic crisis.

But the prime minister says he needs to be sure that the Greek people are behind him.







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All hostages released from Wisconsin high school


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Jeff Skorik: "There were no specific reasons for this incident to take place"
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US student hostages freed
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Ohio student goes on gun rampage
A student armed with two handguns held 23 other students and a teacher hostage for several hours at a school in Wisconsin before shooting himself.

Police were called to Marinette High School at around 1500 (2100 GMT), after the 15-year-old took over a classroom.

All of the hostages were released unharmed after a five-hour stand-off.

The student shot himself after police officers entered the classroom, police said. He was taken to a hospital, and his condition is not immediately known.

Marinette Police Chief Jeff Skorik said no other injuries had been reported.

'Reunited'
The incident began near the end of the school day, when the male student entered a classroom with two handguns - a .22-calibre semi-automatic and a 9mm semi-automatic - and took the students and teacher hostage.

Hostage negotiating teams were sent in, but the student made no demands and did not provide any sense of why he had done it, Chief Skorik said. All contact was made through the female teacher being held.

Chief Skorik said that at 1940 (0140 GMT), the student agreed to release five of the 23 students because they had to go the the toilet.


Twenty-three minutes later, police officers deployed outside the classroom heard three gunshots, he added.

"At that time, the officers breached the door, entered the classroom and saw the suspect standing in the front of the classroom. As the officers approached him, the suspect fired one shot and injured himself."

The remaining hostages, as well as the teacher, were immediately evacuated.

"All of the students were safely removed from the school and were put on buses and reunited with their families," Chief Skorik said.

Marinette Health and Human Services has mental health counsellors talking with the parents, and the Marinette Schools Superintendent, Tim Baneck, said classes at the school would be cancelled on Tuesday.

"The high school will be closed tomorrow. We, too, will need to regroup and assess the situation, find out more as this investigation continues."

Investigators have interviewed the gunman's parents. Chief Skorik said he did not have any history with the police.

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