poll shows RADICAL leftist socialists will win Greek election

[briann]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/9260830/Greek-leaders-fail-to-form-coalition-as-poll-shows-radical-leftist-would-win-new-election.html

Greek leaders fail to form coalition as poll shows radical leftist would win new election

Greek leaders have failed in their desperate efforts to forge a governing coalition in a bid to avert a new election, which polls showed would be won by a young radical Leftist who could jeopardise the country's critical EU bailout.

Alexis Tsipras appealed to a wide cross-section of frustrated voters Photo: REUTERS
By Alex Spillius, Athens6:29PM BST 11 May 20128 Comments
As Germany threatened to cut off Greece's economic lifeline, Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the socialist Pasok party and a former finance minister, failed to meet Saturday's deadline for bringing together a ruling majority.
Alexis Tsipras, the head of the Radical Left Coalition, or Syriza, said he was unwilling to join a coalition government.
The president now has until Wednesday to summon party leaders and exhort them to work together, but a new poll next month would be a much more likely outcome.
Hopes of a breakthrough had been raised on Thursday when the small Democratic Left party proposed a national unity government that would last only two-and-a-half years and would seek to gradually extricate Greece from its two loan deals, worth a record 240 billion euros.
Expectations increased further when Antonis Samaras, leader of the largest party New Democracy, declared he could work with Pasok and Democratic Left and its veteran leader Fotis Kouvelis.
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However they receded when Mr Kouvelis issued a clarification stating he would not join a government without Syriza, which polled a surprising second place after a strident campaign against the high levels of austerity in the EU rescue plan. He said its absence would ignore the angry message of the election.
Mr Kouvelis, 63, had attempted to pile pressure on Mr Tsipras, 37, to soften his stance and join a four-way government.
"We will not participate in a government with just New Democracy and Pasok," he said. "Unless Syriza changes stance we will have repeat elections."
Mr Tsipras [had] offered some hope that he might join a coalition by softening his anti-bailout rhetoric. He wrote to European leaders to say he merely wanted a heavy renegotiation, rather cancellation of agreement he had described as "barbaric" a few days ago.
But with opinion polls showing Syriza's popularity jumping eleven per cent since Sunday to 27.7 per cent, Mr Tsipras may well wait for another election next month. Victory for the charismatic former communist youth, who appealed to a wide cross-section of frustrated voters, would give his party a bonus 50 seats and the probable ability to form a coalition with just one other partner.
With progress stalled, the outgoing technocrat interim prime minister Lucas Papademos hurried to a meeting with President Carolos Papoulias, telling the head of state that there were "issues of economic and foreign policy that require immediate attention".
Greece has already committed to itemizing in June another 11.5 billion euros in savings over the next two years. It also needs to pay back 436 million euros in maturing debt on May 15.
Germany's finance minister insisted yesterday that the single currency was prepared and would weather the storm if Greece was forced out of the eurozone.
"We want Greece to remain in the eurozone. But it also has to want this and to fulfil its obligations," Wolfgang Schaeuble said. "We cannot force anyone. Europe will not sink that easily," he told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
"We have learned a lot and built and built in protective mechanisms. The risk of effects on other countries have been reduced and the eurozone as a whole has become more resistant."
The Daily Telegraph understands that the German government is increasingly resigned to the prospect that Greece will crash out the euro over the summer and that the eurozone is prepared. Diplomats point to over a trillion euros in cheap European Central Bank loans since December and new powers for the eurozone's bail-out fund to guard Spanish and Italian banks and bonds from contagion.

[Zelhar]

Just let them go marxist and set an example and a warning for all.