Greek conservatives bid failed to form a government

Greek conservatives bid failed to form a government, pushing political opportunity for anti-austerity leftists to try to work together a coalition despite Germany and EU warnings the country must stick to its bailout deal.

Leader of Greece's New Democracy Party says he has given up hope of forming a coalition government led by his party.Antonis Samaras made the announcement on Monday.Samaras was rebuffed by Syriza and the small Democratic Left group, while the nationalist Independent Greeks and the Communist party refused to even meet with him.Third-place socialist PASOK, formerly in a coalition with New Democracy, agreed to cooperate but only if the leftists also joined.

Probability to build a ruling coalition will now pass to Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Radical Left Coalition. But he has already vowed only to work with some of the left-wing parties, making a parliamentary majority unlikely. On Tsipras fails, the PASOK party will be handed the chance to build a coalition.

New Democracy
Official results showed conservative New Democracy came first with 18.8 per cent and 108 of Parliament's 300 seats. "I understand the rage of the people, but our party will not leave Greece ungoverned,'' said Samaras, who backs Greece's bailout commitments for austerity but has called for some changes to the bailout plan.

Syriza party
In second place came the leftist, anti-austerity Syriza party, with 16.6 per cent of the vote and 51 seats, more than tripling its 2009 showing.

 PASOK
Once strong PASOK was reduced to third place, its vote more than halved to 13.3 per cent, or 41 seats,the voters' deserting it for having pushed through punishing public spending cuts. Election  fragmented the political landscape, with voters sending at least seven parties to parliament, two more than previously.


 neo-Nazi Hryssi Avgi

Newcomers is the neo-Nazi Hryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn), breaking into parliament for the first time in nearly 40 years. Its 6.9 per cent of the vote should give it 21 deputies, according to the latest ministry figures.

With almost all the votes counted, speaker of the parliament Philippos Petsalnikos on Monday announced the final results. He said the New Democracy party and its partner PASOK won 149 seats, 2 short of a majority in the 300-member parliament.

Opposition parties made big gains with their objections to deficit-cutting policies. The Radical Left Coalition increased the number of seats it has by about 5 times and came in second.

Some voters in the capital Athens have expressed concerns about a power vacuum forming, while others have welcomed the gains by the opposition bloc.
New Democracy has won the most votes and will start negotiations to form a coalition.

Even if the party can form a coalition, the new government may have to review the austerity measures. If negotiations become bogged down, the country may have to hold a fresh election.
  When none of the parties can form a governing alliance,  a snap election , which could reignite concerns over Europe's credit crisis:

European Union has called for Greece to form a stable government as soon as possible to ease mounting concerns about the implementation of austerity measures.Greece's ruling coalition introduced tough austerity measures to secure EU bailout funds. But it failed to secure a majority in Sunday's general election, leading to fears over whether the country will be able to hit its reform targets.A European Commission spokesperson for economic affairs told reporters on Monday that it hopes and expects to see a stable government in Greece soon.

Media agencies