New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras's attempt to forge a government of 'national salvation' already snubbed by Syriza
Tasked with forming a coalition government, Greece's conservative leader Antonis Samaras has begun efforts to build an administration of "national salvation" after narrowly winning Sunday's crucial election.
At his meeting with the country's head of state, Karolos Papoulias, the 61-year-old Samaras said he would attempt to forge a coalition of parties that "believe in [Greece's] European orientation and the euro".
"A national understanding by everybody is imperative. I will begin by seeing political leaders," said Samaras, adding that he thought there was room for agreement.
But cadres in the centre-right New Democracy party also acknowledged that navigating the crisis-hit country out of economic freefall and political instability will be far from easy.
Alexis Tsipras, whose radical Syriza party emerged as the runner-up – winning 26.9% of the vote compared with the 29.7% garnered by New Democracy – rejected Samaras's overtures outright, saying the leftwing alliance would instead oppose the government "both in and outside" parliament.
"The role of a strong opposition is to exercise criticism … to intervene in a combative way," Tsipras told reporters after holding talks with Samaras. "And that is what I assured him we would do."
Piling on the pressure, cash-strapped Greece's international creditors have made it abundantly clear that Athens has little time to waste. EU leaders, including German chancellor Angela Merkel who called Samaras to congratulate him, said it was vital that a government was formed as quickly as possible so that normality returns to the eurozone state.
The new administration faces a series of crucial meetings, including a gathering of eurozone finance ministers on 21 June – at which the country's next injection of cash will be discussed – and an emergency EU summit on 28 June.
Papoulias also underlined the urgency for a government to be formed as he handed Samaras the formal mandate, saying: "The country cannot remain ungoverned for even an hour."
Six weeks of political paralysis in the wake of an inconclusive poll in May have pushed Greece to the brink, with its state coffers fast running dry and public administration in complete disarray.
With 129 MPs in the 300-seat Greek parliament, the conservatives could form a comfortable majority by linking up with the Pasok party, which came in third with 12.3% of the vote.
Evangelos Venizelos, the former finance minister who oversaw the negotiations that secured Greece's second EU-IMF sponsored bailout package, has openly backed the need for reform even if, like Samaras, he also believes the loan agreement should be renegotiated to take some of the heat out of a society that has reached breaking point because of cutbacks. Combined, New Democracy and Pasok would control 162 seats.
But, acutely aware of the opposition the government will face from Syriza and other "anti-austerity" parties, Samaras said it was vital that a national salvation government comprised "as many parties as possible".
Analysts said this would mean forging an alliance with the small, pro-European Democratic Left party which won 6.3% of the vote. Appealing for the parties to co-operate, former prime minister Costas Simitis, who oversaw Greece's entry to the eurozone in 2001, said it was essential that Athens avoid "being driven out of the euro and to the drachma".
But getting there is unlikely to be easy. In a radio interview on Monday, the mild-mannered Fotis Kouvellis, leader of the Democratic Left party, indicated that the horse-trading would be fierce.
"Everything is on the table. The name of the prime minister and the cabinet ministers will have to be discussed," he said, adding that the "gradual withdrawal" from the excruciating terms of the lifeline thrown Greece was also a "red line" over which the party could not cross.
Samaras is due to meet Kouvellis either on Monday night or on Tuesday, said aides.
