|
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's socialist leader and former financeminister says efforts to form a coalition government have failed. Evangelos Venizelos, who was the last of three party leaders to tryto reach an agreement, said Friday he would hand the mandate backto the country's president Saturday. He made the comments after meeting with Radical Left Coalitionleader Alexis Tsipras, whose party came second in Sunday'selection. Tsipras said he would not join any government thatintended to continue implementing the terms of Greece'sinternational bailout agreement, which he says is too harsh. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for furtherinformation. AP's earlier story is below. Greece's wrangling politicians were locked in last-ditch effortsFriday to form a coalition government, with chances of a dealappearing slim even with the country's future in Europe's commoncurrency at stake. The political instability has alarmed Greece's European creditors,who have warned that the country's international bailout loans andits use of the euro could be threatened. German Finance MinisterWolfgang Schaeuble even suggested the 17-nation eurozone could dealwith an abrupt Greek exit. Greeks punished both main parties in Sunday elections for theirhandling of the country's protracted financial crisis and the deepausterity measures they had to accept to get international bailoutloans. Voters instead chose a myriad of smaller parties on theright and left, leaving a hung parliament with no group able toform a government. Unless an agreement is found, Greece will hold new elections nextmonth. Hopes for a three-party deal between election winner conservativeNew Democracy, the third-place Socialist PASOK party and the smallDemocratic Left party of Fotis Kouvelis diminished Friday whenKouvelis insisted he could not participate in a government withjust the country's two main parties. "We have made our position clear. In a government with (only) NewDemocracy and PASOK, we will not take part," Kouvelis said. Chances of a deal seemed to hinge on the position of electionrunner-up Alexis Tsipras, whose anti-bailout Radical LeftCoalition, or Syriza party, made massive gains in the election,winning 16.8 percent and 52 seats in the 300-member parliament. Kouvelis, whose party's 19 seats put it in a kingmaker position,insisted Syriza must be part of any governing coalition. "It is clear from its reaction that from the first moment, Syrizawanted elections," Kouvelis told his deputies Friday. "And withoutSyriza, a government cannot be formed that is in harmony with thepopular will." So far, Tsipras has refused to join any government that does notreject the austerity terms of Greece's bailout, saying the spendingcuts and tax cuts are destroying the country's chances ofrecovering from its deep financial crisis. Greece has been dependent since May 2010 on rescue loans from otherEuropean Union countries that use the euro and the InternationalMonetary Fund. In return, Athens has imposed repeated rounds ofspending cuts and tax hikes, leaving the country mired in a fifthyear of recession with unemployment above 21 percent. Tsipras could have his eye on a repeat election, with an opinionpoll published Thursday showing his party would likely come firstin a new ballot, although with not enough votes to form agovernment itself. Both New Democracy head Antonis Samaras and PASOK's EvangelosVenizelos, who spent nine months handling the Greek crisis asfinance minister, have warned that Tsipras' demands for Athens topull out of its bailout commitments would be disastrous and leadGreece out of the euro. The vast majority of Greeks, and the leaders of the main parties,all want Greece to remain within the joint European currency. Venizelos, who currently holds the mandate to seek coalitionpartners, is to meet with Tsipras later Friday evening. The Fitch ratings agency warned that the outcome of the coalitiontalks or a new election would be critical. "The election or formation of a Greek government unwilling orunable to abide by the terms of the current EU-IMF program wouldincrease the risk of Greece leaving the eurozone," Fitch said. The agency said if Greece did leave the euro, it would likely placeall 16 remaining euro nations' sovereign ratings on "rating watchnegative" - indicating they were in danger of being downgraded. "A Greek exit would break a fundamental tenet underpinning the euro- that membership of EMU is irrevocable," Fitch said. However, it added, "in a benign scenario, the spillover andcontagion to the rest of the eurozone could be less profound thanfeared and possibly provide the catalyst for greater fiscal andpolitical integration." Germany's Schaeuble also suggested Europe could weather a Greekexit better now. "We have learned a lot in the last two years and built inprotective mechanisms," Schaeuble told the Rheinische Postnewspaper. "The risk of effects on other countries in the eurozonehave been reduced and the eurozone as a whole has become moreresistant." But EU monetary affairs chief Olli Rehn stressed that Greece'sbailout terms were the only way the country could reform itseconomy. "Greece systemically lived beyond its means for a decade. ... It issimply not sustainable and therefore Greece has had to take firmaction to restore its economic competitiveness and sustainablepublic finances," he said in Brussels. ---- Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Raf Casert in Brussels and David Risingin Berlin contributed. 2012 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published,broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Solar Lighting Kits Manufacturer , China Mono Solar Panels for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Semi - flexible Solar Panels.
Related Articles -
Solar Lighting Kits Manufacturer, China Mono Solar Panels,
|
