Greek elections: buying time

Last Sunday was not an ordinary day for the Eurozone. As the Greeks lined up to cast votes in their general elections, it was evident that their choices would determine the fate of not only their country but the entire 17-nation bloc. Much to everyones joy, the results that followed literally spared EU leaders some "real-time fiscal firefighting", to quote a part of the Globe and Mails headline. The voters verdict came out in favour of the conservative New Democracy (ND) party. Whats so special about ND is that it is a pro-bailout party, which also makes it a pro-austerity party by association. For the eurozone, this means the country will be likely hanging around with the other 16 nations as a single-currency bloc. But why would the Greek elect in the same party they had been reserved about voting for earlier in May, leading to unresolved results back then? According to the CNN, a former minister says that the vote is "a referendum on the Euro used by 325 million people". The election results allay fears regarding a possible Grexit and the ensuing contagion effects on other eurozone countries. Markets responded positively, pushing up the value of the Euro, oil climbed to a one-week high and most Asian stocks also rallied as the news came in. Yet, the election victory is not a panacea for Eurozone and Greek worries. Economists remain concerned about the countrys recessionary woes and there are concerns that further restructuring will be required to bring the countrys debt to sustainable levels. NDs victory is not by a landslide, by the way, winning about 30 percent of the votes. "The message from Greece was once more that they wanted to stay in the EU but not at the price of the austerity measures they were enduring," commented the BBC. Besides, don forget the stringent bailout conditions that Athens still has to live up to. After all, these austerity measures were the reason these elections had been inconclusive in May in the first place. Investors and economists will be placing a keen eye on NDs political will to implement these conditional measures. As for the Eurozone, banking and budgetary problems of Spain and Italy - Eurozones fourth and third largest economies - are still out there. The blocs troubles have not ended entirely. The election results, therefore, are just a temporary painkiller. For more long-term relief, structural changes in not just Greece, but other EU economies ought to be made and their implementation ensured.