Greek socialists fail to form government

In the third consecutive failure of the Greek parliament to form a governing coalition, socialist PASOK party chief Evangelos Venizelos announced on Friday that the of Radical Left SYRIZA coalition had refused to join a pro-austerity coalition with the socialists and conservatives, AFP reported.

“I am going to inform the president of the republic tomorrow (Saturday) and I hope that during the meeting with Carolos Papoulias, each party will assume its responsibilities,” Venizelos told reporters in Athens.

The Greek president will now call on all elected officials to form a unity government and if the parties cannot agree a compromise by Thursday, new elections will have to be called.

“It is not SYRIZA which is rejecting (joining a coalition with the socialists and conservatives) but it is the verdict of the people of Greece,” said 38-year-old Tsipras.

The outgoing coalition government has adopted the spending cuts in order to secure emergency bailout funding from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

On Tuesday, he criticized austerity measures imposed under an EU-IMF deal, saying his cabinet would reject all of them if he manages to form a new government.

Greek voters, angry about the high unemployment rate and severe cuts to pensions and pay, punished the pro-austerity parties, the conservative New Democracy and PASOK, for imposing the harsh austerity measures to address the country’s debt crisis.

GJH/SAB/MF/JR

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