ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s conservatives said on Tuesday they would not renege on a pledge to abide by the EU/IMF bailout deal that saved the country from bankruptcy, rejecting the condition set by a leftist party to help form a coalition government.
“He is asking me to put my signature to the destruction of Greece. I won’t do this,” New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said in a televised statement, referring to Left Coalition leader Alexis Tsipras who has been given a three-day mandate to try and form an administration.
Samaras said he would be ready to tolerate a minority government that would ensure Greece’s euro membership but said Tsipras did not guarantee that.
(Reporting by Harry Papachristou; Writing by Ingrid Melander, editing by Mike Peacock)
