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Antonis Samaras will today continue meeting with the leaders of PASOK and Democratic Left, hoping to confirm a programme for government with both. Petros Giannakouris/AP

Greece: Pro-bailout parties announce 'preliminary' coalition deal

New Democracy and PASOK will hope to confirm a deal today, while Democratic Left may also be taken on board.

THE LEADER of the largest party in the new Greek parliament, New Democracy, has said he has reached a preliminary deal to form a coalition with the third-largest party which also supports the EU-IMF bailouts.

Antonis Samaras, the leader of the centre-right party, said talks with PASOK – the socialist party which has ruled for the last four years, and oversaw Greece’s entry into the first bailout programme – would allow it to form “a government of national salvation”.

PASOK has also voiced hope for a full deal to be agreed today, but has insisted that the new government should include other parties including the radical leftist Syriza, which has already ruled out taking part in any New Democracy-led coalition.

In order to address this concern – and to pad out the government’s majority in the 300-seat parliament – Samaras will today continue talks with Fotis Kouvelis, the leader of Democratic Left, hoping to bring it into the coalition aswell.

Samaras’s conservatives won 129 of the 300 parliamentary seats, Syriza won 71 seats and Pasok 33 seats. Democratic Left, a pro-European movement, won 17 seats.

Samaras has promised to respect Greece’s international engagements but also said yesterday that there should be amendments to the harsh conditions of the bailout deal “so the Greek people can escape from today’s torturous reality”.

“The country cannot remain ungoverned even for an hour,” Greek President Carolos Papoulias said yesterday, as he formally gave Samaras a three-day mandate in which to form a government.

World stock markets initially rallied in reaction to Sunday’s elections and the euro rose sharply against the dollar, but the gains quickly petered out amid broader concerns about other indebted euro economies like Italy and Spain.

Syriza, which has called for the EU-IMF bailout deal to be scrapped and renegotiated from scratch, won more than a quarter of the vote in Greece’s most important elections since the end of military rule in 1974.

Europe and the United States have urged Greece to move quickly to form a new government and enact reforms under the terms of a controversial multi-billion bailout deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Additional reporting by AFP.

Read: Greece: Pro-bailout parties head into coalition talks

Explainer: Everything you need to know about the crucial election in Greece

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    Mute 9QRixo8H
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    Jun 9th 2024, 3:30 PM

    If immigration was apparently the top issue, and the single-issue far-right anti-immigrant parties couldn’t even get seats, then there is no hope for them lol. The current govt who have been overseeing the migration “issue” is reelected. This echo chamber won’t be happy and clearly doesn’t reflect the rest of the nation.

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    Mute M To The B
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    Jun 9th 2024, 4:44 PM

    @9QRixo8H: these people predominately exist on social media and are based on foreign soil. They absolutely do not represent the views of the vast majority of Irish people

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    Mute Stiles
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    Jun 9th 2024, 6:36 PM

    ming has worked tirelessly to call out hypocrisy corruption and general BS since he started in his career.. he is one of the most honest politicians I’ve ever come across.. he actually wants to improve our country.. most politicians are just spouting about whatever topical soundbites are currently fashionable to have an opinion on, while behind the scenes being only interested in lining their pockets.. this man is the real deal.. just my opinion..

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    Mute John finn
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    Jun 9th 2024, 6:54 PM

    @Stiles: thanks. You made me laugh. See you in 5 years time ming

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    Mute Oh Mammy
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    Jun 9th 2024, 3:33 PM

    Brendan, the extreme left hypocrite, speaking for the Irish people. How many votes did you win?

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    Mute Brendan O'Brien
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    Jun 9th 2024, 3:37 PM

    @Oh Mammy: The Irish people spoke for themselves yesterday, and I am not ‘extreme left’.

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    Mute 9QRixo8H
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    Jun 9th 2024, 3:40 PM

    @Oh Mammy: Think he supports FFG, who have topped the polls. How many votes did your far right parties get? You’ve all been very quiet licking those wounds.

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    Mute Éamonn OKane
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    Jun 9th 2024, 4:08 PM

    @Oh Mammy: you need her, time for your bottle

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    Mute Hibernicus
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    Jun 9th 2024, 2:50 PM

    None the wiser, then!

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    Mute tom mitchell
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    Jun 9th 2024, 3:11 PM

    Surely away to digitalize the vote for 2042 elections

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    Mute Adam O'Sullivan
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    Jun 9th 2024, 3:14 PM

    @tom mitchell: There is, but they’ve been sitting in a barn for 20 odd years!

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    Mute Padraig O'Brien
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    Jun 9th 2024, 4:52 PM

    At least he called out the agribusiness lobby. On a radio discussion some idiot tried to raise the “derogation issue.
    Ming pointed out that it affected some 300 farmers in the constituency out of 13,000 and asked why it should be discussed.
    No. 1 for me!

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    Mute Ronan Mc
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    Jun 9th 2024, 5:10 PM

    Bring in e-voting for these huge constituencies. Only fair way to do it.

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    Mute Sean O'Dhubhghaill
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    Jun 9th 2024, 4:29 PM
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    Mute Sean O'Dhubhghaill
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    Jun 9th 2024, 4:33 PM

    @Sean O’Dhubhghaill: https://euandi.eu/en/survey/european-elections.html
    This is a better link

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