Greek coalition talks in serious doubt

ATHENS, Greece – Talks to form a governing coalition in crisis-struck Greece are planned today but the chances of success have been diminished after one leftist party pulled out of the talks, leading the country one step closer to new elections – and bringing its continued membership in the euro into serious doubt.

Last-ditch efforts by President Karolos Papoulias to broker a deal between wrangling party leaders ended with no deal in sight late Sunday, a week after national elections produced a deadlock, with no party winning enough seats to form a government.

The Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) party, which came in a surprising second in the May 6 election, with 16.8 percent, announced around midnight Sunday it would refuse to join a coalition government.

“Syriza refuses to be a left-wing alibi for a government that will continue the policies the people rejected on May 6,” NET state television quoted Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras as saying.

That leaves conservative New Democracy, which won the election with 18.9 percent, socialist PASOK, which came in third with 13.2 percent, and Democratic Left, the most moderate of the leftist parties, seventh with 6.1 percent, as the only remaining partners available for a coalition government. President Papoulias has not invited again fourth-placed Independent Greeks – a right-wing nationalist offshoot of New Democracy – the fifth-placed hard-line Communists and sixth-placed extreme-right Golden Dawn to attend this evening’s talks, as none expressed any desire to take part.

In theory, New Democracy, PASOK and the Democratic Left could form a stable coalition government. Together, they hold 168 seats in the 300-seat parliament, despite winning 38.2 percent of the votes among them. That’s because the electoral law gives the winner a bonus of 50 seats, whatever its winning margin. All three have declared that they would refuse to join a broad coalition government without Syriza, because they want this leftist upstart to share joint responsibility in the government and not benefit from leading the opposition. But despite pressure to join and prove he means what he says when he declares himself in favor of remaining in the euro, Tsipras resisted the pressure to join.

Despite Tsipras’ refusal, spokesmen for New Democracy, PASOK and the Democratic Left said their parties would attend talks today.