The leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), Alexis Tsipras, is to get a shot at forming a coalition government from Tuesday after an attempt by Antonis Samaras, the leader of conservative of New Democracy which came first in the general elections, failed to bear fruit.
Tsipras is to meet President Karolos Papoulias at 2 p.m. to receive his mandate to form a government. He will then approach other parties - formations “primarily” to the left of the political spectrum, he indicated yesterday - in a bid to form a left-led coalition. Party sources told Kathimerini that Tsipras’s key goal is to win round the Communist Party (KKE) and Democratic Left, a moderate, pro-Europe grouping. If this fails - which is likely as KKE has already ruled out any cooperations - Tsipras will reach out to other parties, the same sources said. He is also expected to meet with the heads of smaller leftist parties that didn’t make it into Parliament in a bid to bolster SYRIZA ahead of a possible second round of elections.
Samaras effectively passed the baton to the 38-year-old leftist on Monday when he declared that his efforts to form a government had failed. “We did everything we could, but it just wasn’t possible,” Samaras said in a televised statement.
According to the Constitution, the leader of the first party in general elections gets three days to form a government before the mandate passes to the runner-up and then the third party. ND sources said that Samaras returned the mandate after just a few hours as he had not wanted to waste time at such a critical moment for the nation.
Earlier in the day, following a meeting with Samaras, Tsipras ruled out the formation of a national unity government with ND, reiterating that the election results showed people rejecting the politics of austerity. “We will do all we can to reach an agreement with primarily left-wing parties,” he said.
His appeal elicited a cautious response from Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis. “We will wait to hear a precise and clear proposal and then we will comment,” Kouvelis said after rejecting participation in a conservative-led government following talks with Samaras. Kouvelis said his party had not shifted from its pre-election position - to ensure Greece remains in the eurozone and renegotiate its debt deal.
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