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Antonis Samaras sworn in as new Greece prime minister | Antonis Samaras sworn in as new Greece prime minister |
(40 minutes later) | |
Antonis Samaras, the leader of the New Democracy party, which won Sunday's election, has been sworn in as the country's new prime minister. | Antonis Samaras, the leader of the New Democracy party, which won Sunday's election, has been sworn in as the country's new prime minister. |
The ceremony came shortly after he agreed a coalition government with the Socialists (Pasok) and the smaller leftist party, the Democratic Left. | The ceremony came shortly after he agreed a coalition government with the Socialists (Pasok) and the smaller leftist party, the Democratic Left. |
Mr Samaras took the oath at a Greek Orthodox ceremony in Athens. | Mr Samaras took the oath at a Greek Orthodox ceremony in Athens. |
He vowed his government would do whatever it could to tackle an economic crisis that has shaken the eurozone. | |
"Tomorrow I will ask for the new government to be formed - [we will] work hard so we can give hope to our people," Mr Samaras said. | "Tomorrow I will ask for the new government to be formed - [we will] work hard so we can give hope to our people," Mr Samaras said. |
The coalition deal follows weeks of uncertainty, after parties failed to agree a government on the results of an election on 6 May. | The coalition deal follows weeks of uncertainty, after parties failed to agree a government on the results of an election on 6 May. |
But the new coalition is expected to come under immediate pressure from a Greek public weary of five years of recession and increasingly resistant to the tough terms of Greece's huge bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF). | |
Syriza - the leftist party that came second in Sunday's poll - will be a defiant voice of opposition, correspondents say. | |
Bailout 'renegotiation' | |
Mr Samaras took the oath of office at a brief ceremony at the presidential palace in Athens, presided over by chanting Orthodox Greek priests. | |
More detail on the make-up of the cabinet will become known later on Wednesday. | |
Earlier, announcing the coalition deal, Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said the three parties in the new coalition had "taken on the burden of responsibility to renegotiate the bailout agreement and [the job] of exiting Greece from the crisis". | |
Mr Venizelos said Greece would be represented by outgoing Finance Minister Giorgos Zanias at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday. | |
The BBC's Andrew Walker in Brussels says European leaders will be relieved that there is now a Greek government to negotiate with, but concern about what they will be asking for. | |
European leaders have indicated that there is limited room for manoeuvre on the bailout. | |
But even those parties joining the coalition have said they do want changes to the bailout deal - and in particular the junior member, the Democratic Left. | |
Additional pressure will come from Syriza, which strongly opposes the tough austerity measures required under the bailout deal. | |
There have been many street demonstrations - sometimes violent - by Greeks angered by the job losses, pay cuts and reduced welfare resulting from the bailout. | |
Greece got an initial EU-IMF package worth 110bn euros (£89bn; $138bn) in 2010, then a follow-up this year worth 130bn euros. | |
Greece has also had 107bn euros (£86bn; $135bn) of debt, held by private investors, written off. | |
New Democracy won 129 seats in Greece's 300-seat parliament on Sunday, followed by Syriza with 71, Pasok with 33 and the Democratic Left with 17. | |
Between them, New Democracy, Pasok and Democratic Left would have a majority of 29. |