New Democracy leader gets support of Pasok with revised €130bn bailout deal as top priority in new coalition
Antonis Samaras, head of Greece's conservative New Democracy party, has been sworn in as the country's new prime minister, following his victory in Sunday's general election.
New Democracy, the socialist party Pasok, and the smaller Democratic Left came to an agreement on Wednesday to form a coalition government. All three parties support Greece's bailout commitments but have pledged to rewrite the conditions.
Evangelos Venizelos, the Pasok leader, has said the next two weeks will be critical for the debt stricken country.
In a televised address Venizelos said the new government's top priority would be the formation of "a national team" to renegotiate the €130bn bailout agreement Athens had signed with its creditors at the EU and IMF.
"Our first test will be the EU summit on 28 June where our battle to revise the terms of the loan agreement with our creditors will begin," he said.
Referring to the far-left party's refusal to take part given that it would be the country's main opposition party, he added: "It is a pity that Syriza has refused to participate in this team."
Venizelos, who negotiated the accord when he was finance minister in an interim government headed by the technocrat Lucas Papademos, announced that like the Democratic Left, Pasok MPs would support the new coalition but not participate in the cabinet.
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