President in last-gasp bid to form new government
Sunday 13 May 2012
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EmailGreek President Karolos Papoulias met party leaders today in a last-ditch effort to resolve a deadlock over forming a governing coalition and avoid new elections.
Mr Papoulias met the heads of conservative New Democracy, left-wing Syriza and centrist Pasok, who finished in the top three positions in elections last week that left no party with enough seats to form a government.
Week-long negotiations have so far failed to produce a result and if no government is formed, Greece must call new elections.
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras was adamant yesterday that he will not join or support a pro-austerity coalition government, making new elections more likely.
“Syriza doesn’t accept the formation of a viable government, or agree to support a government that would seek to renegotiate the terms of the EU-IMF bailout,” Mr Samaras declared after a 90-minute meeting chaired by Mr Papoulias.
“They wanted Syriza to collude in a crime, and to ignore the voice of the people.”
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