Greece: New Democracy leader Meimarakis moves to form new govt

Journalist (Greek): "How can there be a new coalition government if SYRIZA, Golden Dawn and the Communist Party don’t give their confidence vote?" Evangelos Meimarakis, New Democracy Party Leader (Greek): "At this moment, the party leaders represent all their MPs, but at the same time MPs need to be able to express themselves and have their own opinion. There already is an important and serious development which proves that although Mr Tsipras was speaking as the leader of 149 MPs, he did not represent all of them. This is an unprecedented and complicated development in the political landscape and that’s why we need to look into it more deeply and allow MPs to express themselves publicly. Right now we are trying to find a solution. This is not an invitation to defect, as some have claimed, it’s a bet with our responsibilities for the future of this country. *BUGS AT SOURCE* The leader of opposition party New Democracy, Evengelos Meimarakis, was given a three-day mandate in which to form a new government, in Athens on Friday, following the resignation of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras a day earlier. Meimarakis stated that he wanted "to find a serious political solution to avoid the long-term negative consequences of another election." Should Meimarakis fail to form a government the mandate will pass on to the third-largest party. That was until Friday the far-right Golden Dawn, but it has since been overtaken by the Popular Unity party, which comprises 25 ex-Syriza MPs. On Thursday evening Tsipras addressed the Greek people, informing them of his decision to resign and announce early elections. However, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos has since provided Meimarakis with a “mandate" to form a new government. However, New Democracy is not expected to be able to find enough coalition partners to form a new government, with any third party thought even less likely to be able to do so. Tsipras declared that he would seek re-election and continue his government programme, saying it is “time for the sovereign people to get the power" and choose who best represents their interests. The move follows the Greek parliament voting in favour of a third bailout by Greece's creditors - the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In securing votes for the bailout, 43 Syriza MPs out of 149 rebelled against the party-line of Tsipras.