SUCCESS AND FAILURE IN THE GREEK AND EGYPTIAN ELECTIONS............

Last weekend two international elections of note took place in Greece and Egypt.  With the financial crisis in Europe, threatening to crush the Greeks ability to survive their mounting debt; and whether they will stay with the Euro as their source of currency, or pull out and replace it again with the Drachma, likely resulting in Greece's withdrawal from the European Union.  Narrowly, Greek voters gave Antonis Sanparas and the New Democracy Party, the most conservative of political parties in the country, and the most pro-European, a first place plurality over the Syriza Party, led by Alexis Tsipras.  This should assure that for the time being Greece will remain in the Euro Zone, standing by the Euro as their currency, and maintaining membership in the European Union.  Thus a potential, wider. crisis was averted by the voters.  In Egypt, the presidential election after the deposing of former three decade President Hosni Mubarak, as a result of the Arab Spring revolt in early 2011, came down to a choice between Mubarak's final Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood. Although Muslim Brotherhood Chairman Mohamed Morsi, has declared victory over the former Prime Minister and Air Force General Ahmed Shafik, by as much as a one million vote margin; the Military currently governing Egypt who were expected to release the vote tally today, has postponed doing so.  The New Democracy Party / Samparas triumph in Greece can be argued a success not only for Greece, but Europe and World markets, as far as the financial stability of the Euro and developing a better plan to combat the economic peril presently besetting many of the European Union countries.  A Muslim Brotherhood Party / Morsi victory, could well be judged a failure for future hopes for return to a democratic government, that is not imposed upon them by the dictates of the radical Islamists, or inordinately controlled by the Greek Military.  How both governments proceed and prosper will undoubtably have an impact on economic and peace initiatives in Europe, the Middle East, and on the United States and the World............Fr.  Troy