Greece's Tsipras refuses to join pro-bailout government

Greek radical left leader Alexis Tsipras says he will not join or support a pro-bailout coalition government because he cannot agree to what he terms a mistake. His continued refusal makes new elections in the crisis-struck country more likely.

Tsipras made the comments Sunday after attending a meeting convened by President Karolos Papoulias with the head of the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK parties.

Papoulias is making a last-ditch effort to broker an agreement and break the deadlock created by last weekend's elections, which left no party with enough parliamentary seats to form a government.

If no deal is reached, Greece must hold new elections next month, prolonging the political uncertainty and endangering the country's euro membership.

Papoulias set up the talks Saturday after socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos officially gave up the mandate to form a coalition government after three rounds of negotiations proved fruitless.

Papoulias' office announced that the president would meet initially with the heads of the three parties that won the most votes — the conservative New Democracy, radical left-wing Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) and socialist PASOK.

He also wants to meet individually with the leaders of the other four parties that won enough votes for parliamentary seats — the right-wing nationalist Independent Greeks, the Communists, the extreme-right Golden Dawn and the moderate left Democratic Left.

Venizelos was the third party leader to try to cobble together a governing coalition after the elections. Voters furious at two years of harsh austerity measures taken in return for international bailouts worth $310 billion rejected Greece's two formerly dominant parties, Venizelos' socialist PASOK and the conservative New Democracy, in favour of smaller parties on the left and right.

The turmoil has alarmed Greece's international creditors, who have stressed that the country must stick to the terms of its rescue deals if it hopes to continue receiving the funds that have been keeping it afloat since May 2010.

Whether Greece should adhere to the strict austerity measures required for the bailout loans or pull out of the deal has been at the heart of the wrangling over creating a coalition government.

Syriza leader Tsipras, whose party made massive gains to come second in Sunday's election, campaigned on an anti-bailout platform and insists any new government must cancel the austerity measures.

He argues the terms are so onerous that they are giving the country's battered economy no chance of recovery.
Radical left-wing leader slammed as irresponsible

But both Venizelos and Antonis Samaras, head of New Democracy, have slammed Tsipras' position as irresponsible. They say his policies would lead to disaster and force Greece out of the European Union's joint currency — something that none of the political leaders say they want.

Hopes had been raised that a solution could be found in the form of a partnership between New Democracy, PASOK and the smaller Democratic Left party of Fotis Kouvelis, whose 19 seats put it in a potential kingmaker position. But all three parties have insisted they cannot join forces without the support of Syriza, given its strong performance in the elections.

Handing back the mandate to the president, Venizelos said that, while there had been a meeting of minds between his party, Democratic Left and New Democracy, Tsipras was sticking to his position.

The latest opinion poll, published Saturday in weekly financial paper O Kosmos tou Ependyti (Investor's World) confirms the recent trend showing Syriza overtaking New Democracy. The poll estimates — by excluding declared don't knows and those who refuse to answer — that Syriza will win 25.5 per cent in a new election, up from 16.8 per cent it actually polled on May 6.

New Democracy follows with 21.7 per cent, up from 18.9 per cent, and the socialists would gain 14.6 per cent, up from 13.2 per cent. The Independent Greeks would get 10.5 per cent, marginally lower than the 10.6 per cent they got at the election.

The poll projected losses for the Communists (5.3 per cent from 8.5 per cent) and Golden Dawn (4.8 per cent from seven per cent).

Even if the results of the poll were to be confirmed, Syriza does not get enough votes to form a government on its own, although it would benefit from regulations that give the first party a bonus of 50 seats in the 300-member parliament, putting it in the dominant position to seek coalition partners among other anti-bailout parties.

Original Article
Source: CBC
Author: AP