Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

New elections loom as Greek talks falter

 

Daniel Howden
Thursday 10 May 2012 22:59 BST
Comments
Pasok’s Evangelos Venizelos is trying to form a government
Pasok’s Evangelos Venizelos is trying to form a government

With Greece seemingly headed for fresh elections amid faltering efforts to form a new government, opinion polls gave the Radical Left Coalition (Syrizia), which has rejected the euro bailout, a commanding lead.

The first surveys carried out since Syriza split Greece's two big parties by taking second place at last Sunday's election showed the anti-bailout leftists taking up to a seven point lead over the conservatives of New Democracy, with 27 per cent and 20.3 per cent respectively.

The third-placed socialists of Pasok, who have two days to try to form some kind of unity government, have sunk to just 12 per cent in the polls. The radical left's leader Alexis Tsipras toned down his calls for Greece to renege on the terms previously agreed upon for its rescue loans.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in