Greece votes in make-or-break election

PUBLISHED ON JAN 25, 2015 11:40 AM

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A woman writes a note on a board of messages with a slogan reading in Greek: 'We vote what our heart says,' in central Athens, Greece, on Jan 24, 2015. -- PHOTO: EPA

ATHENS (AFP) - Greece on Sunday votes in a snap general election that could bring the radical left Syriza party to power and pose the most severe challenge yet to austerity policies in struggling eurozone countries.

Electing Syriza and their 40-year-old leader Alexis Tsipras would represent a leap into the unknown, but many Greeks appear prepared to take a chance after years of hardship.

Tsipras wants to renegotiate Greece's massive 318 billion euro (S$479 billion) debt and end the wage cuts and public spending reductions linked to an international bailout.

The possibility of a Syriza victory has sparked fears that Greece could default on its debt repayments and quit the group of 19 countries using the single European currency in a so-called "Grexit".

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/world/europe/story/greece-votes-make-or-break-election-20150125#sthash.APZrfvKX.dpuf