Conservatives fail in Greek coalition bid
07/05/2012 - 20:21:55The leader of the Greek conservative party that gained the most votes in parliamentary elections says his efforts to form a coalition government with other parties have failed.
Now, the leftist party that came in second will get a chance to cobble together a ruling alliance.
Conservative leader Antonis Samaras said his attempts to convince the heads of all the parties that might have been open to a coalition did not succeed.
He has handed back the mandate to form a government to the country’s president.
The president will give the mandate to Alexis Tsipras, the head of the Radical Left Coalition party. Mr Tsipras will have three days to seek a coalition.
If his talks fail, the party that came in third in yesterday’s vote will get the mandate. No agreement could force new elections next month.