Greek leaders reject president’s call for new technocratic regime
GREEK leaders again failed to form a government last night, as radical left wing party Syriza rejected the president’s plan to install a new technocratic prime minister.
Conservative leader Antonis Samaras accused Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras of being “arrogant” in refusing to join a coalition with the pro-bailout parties.
Meanwhile Evangelos Venizelos, former finance minister and leader of PASOK, said he was not optimistic a coalition could be formed, meaning new elections are likely to be held next month.
The technocratic approach has been tried before – unelected former central banker Lucas Papademos became prime minister late last year, backed by MPs to negotiate the government’s bail out.
As politicians have failed to form a government after the election nine days ago, President Karolos Papoulias suggested repeating the process.
However Syriza objected, with a spokesman explaining: “We don’t want to consent to any kind of bailout policies even if they are implemented by non-political personalities.”
“The fact that it’s going to be implemented by non-political people doesn’t change the purpose of this (proposed) government, which is to implement the bailout.”
If an anti-bailout government is formed, it could mean the country leaving the Eurozone – German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said support for Greece would continue only as long as it kept to its agreements on spending.