Greece votes in first election since international bailout spending controls ended

By ELENA BECATOROS and THEODORA TONGAS
Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greeks are voting in the first parliamentary election since their country’s economy ceased to be subject to strict supervision and control by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during its nearly decade-long financial crisis. The two main contenders in Sunday’s vote are conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a Harvard-educated former banker, and Alexis Tsipras, who heads the left-wing Syriza party and served as prime minister during some of the financial crisis’ most turbulent years. A new electoral system of proportional representation makes it unlikely that whoever wins the election will be able to garner enough seats in Greece’s parliament to form a government without coalition partners, meaning a second election is likely.