Socialists trounce conservatives in Greek election

Papandreou, a 57-year-old former foreign minister whose father and grandfather were both prime ministers, had insisted that Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' plans for austerity to face the international financial crisis were wrong. Instead, he offered a more optimistic solution, saying he would inject up to €3 billion ($4.4 billion) to reinvigorate Greece's economy.

After a campaign fought almost exclusively on economic issues — and following widespread anger over repeated scandals that had already whittled away support for Karamanlis' conservative government — voters were persuaded.

Results from 99.1 percent of votes counted Monday showed Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or PASOK, storming to victory with 43.94 percent, with Karamanlis' New Democracy trailing with 33.48 percent — the party's worst electoral showing ever.

Humbled by his stinging defeat, the 53-year-old Karamanlis, who stormed to power in 2004 to become the youngest prime minister in modern Greek history after more than a decade of socialist rule, resigned as leader of the party founded by his late uncle Constantine Karamanlis 35 years ago.

The result gives PASOK a solid majority, 160 seats in the 300-member parliament, bringing it back to power after five years of conservative governance. New Democracy will hold just 91 seats, with the communist KKE party coming in third with 7.54 percent and 21 seats, followed by the nationalist LAOS with 5.63 percent and 15 seats. Another left-wing party, SYRIZA, won 13 seats with 4.59 percent of the vote.

Papandreou's victory, along with a recent election win by socialists in Portugal, bucks a European trend that has seen a conservative surge in the continent's powerhouse economies, including most recently in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel won re-election last week.

U.S. President Barack Obama was among the first international leaders to congratulate Papandreou, telephoning him Sunday night, the White House said.

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