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Greek conservative parties the New Democracy (ND) and theDemocratic Alliance announced on Monday that they will join forcesahead of the critical June 17 national polls, the second in twomonths, that could determine the debt-ridden country's economicfuture and stay in the eurozone. Following the inconclusive May 6 general elections that gave noparty absolute parliamentary majority and the parties' failure tobroker a deal on a coalition government, political forces seekalliances ahead of the new polls. Antonis Samaras as leader of the ND party that topped the May 6polls with some 19 percent of votes, attempts to build a widecenter-right alliance on a pro-European, pro-reform agenda tocompete against left anti-bailout parties that have increased theirpercentages riding on the wave of disillusionment of recession-hitGreeks. "We must not leave populism forces prevail in the country," saidSamaras, sealing the agreement with a handshake with DemocraticAlliance chief Dora Bakoyianni. "It is time to put differences aside, political and personal, forthe sake of Greece to create a strong, pro-European front againstpopulism," added Bakoyianni. The former foreign minister founded the Democratic Alliance afterlosing the contest for ND's leadership to Samaras and voting infavor of the first bailout agreement two years ago against partyline. The Democratic Alliance didn't win the needed three percentthreshold to enter the parliament that was elected in the previouselections and dissolved on Saturday to open the way to the ballots.But the party base could give ND's percentages a significant boostin the June 17 polls, local political analysts and mediacommentators noted. The radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) that ranked second in theprevious electoral battle with some 17 percent of votes, on theother hand, seeks to forge similar alliances with centre-leftparties that have not made it into the parliament. The two parties vie for the top post and an opportunity to form aviable coalition government, after the June 17 elections, if theyfail to win clear parliamentary majority again, according to thelatest opinion surveys. ND argues for a renegotiation of part of the harsh austerity termsof the two bailout deals clinched with international EU andInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) lenders. The aim is to ease theburden off the shoulders of Greek people, securing the future flowof vital multi-billion euro loans to avoid a disorderly Greekdefault and possible exit from the eurozone. SYRIZA suggests a more hard line in the dialogue with creditorsthat has raised concern over the reactions of EU counterparts andIMF. Despite the party's reassurances that strongly supports Greece'smembership in the EU and the eurozone, some anti-bailout statementshave fuelled scenarios of political instability and a possibleGreek bankruptcy and exit from the European common currency zonethat could rock the international financial system. Ahead of Wednesday's EU summit in Brussels, in the meantime,caretaker Prime Minister Panayiotis Pikrammenos, a senior judgeappointed to the post last week, held throughout Monday a series ofmeetings with leaders of some dozen parties to discuss thecountry's strategy in the upcoming summit and the course to theballots. "A lot of useful proposals were laid out on the table regarding thesummit," said a press statement released by his office at the endof the dialogue. In remarks made to media after the talks, many party leaders calledfor the issuance of euro-bonds to fund development in Greece andacross the eurozone. The idea has been raised by many sides fromthe early stages of the Greek debt crisis that erupted in late2009, but still meets the strong opposition of Germany that fears arise in its borrowing cost. The press release from the interim prime minister's office addedthat all parties also agreed on the need to keep the cost of thenew elections as low as possible. According to estimates of theInterior Ministry the May 6 polls cost about 50 million euros (63.9million U.S. dollars). We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Mini Bike Lights Manufacturer , Automobile Cell Phone Holder Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Cool Bike Bell.
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