Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-06-17

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Tsipras: 'New day has dawned for Greece'

[02] PASOK leader calls for 'co-responsibility gov't'

[03] Barroso, Van Rompuy issue joint statement on Greek election result

[01] Tsipras: 'New day has dawned for Greece'

He promised a tough opposition to the government that would arise and stressed that events would vindicate his party.

Tsipras noted that SYRIZA had undertaken a "difficult and exciting journey to defend the pride and dignity of the Greek people, put an end to the Memorandum and restore hope". He noted that the party had struggled against an unprecedented attack of extortion and terror, what he called an "unholy alliance of the forces of yesterday" that had done its utmost to extinguish the people's desire for justice and dignity, both within and outside of Greece.

Tsipras said he was proud of the way his party had withstood these attacks and multiplied its percentage in the last 1.5 months. He noted that, even though it had failed to get first place, it was now the main body of a popular, progressive anti-bailout majority of the people.

SYRIZA's leader said that he had communicated with New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras and congratulated him on his party's victory, adding that ND was able to form a government based on the popular mandate and on its own policy choices.

He said SYRIZA would be 'present' at developments as main opposition and would not 'give up' to anyone the possibility of intervention in developments. He stressed, also, that the austerity measures and the selling off of public wealth could not proceed because the government lacked popular legitimacy.

"The Memorandum is a non-viable economic plan and its rejection is a popular mandate," he emphasised.

He noted that the government that would be formed would have to take into account that on major issues, nothing could go ahead without the people and underlined that this policy would be vindicated by developments.

"Our proposal for the overthrow of the Memorandum is the only viable solution for Greece and Europe," he underlined, stressing that SYRIZA would continue the battle on Monday with the conviction that the future did not belong to the 'terrified' by those that brought hope.amna

[02] PASOK leader calls for 'co-responsibility gov't'

He also stressed the need to accelerate the process for forming a coalition government, saying that Greece have a government on Monday. He proposed that the party leaders eligible to receive an exploratory mandate to form a government should ask President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias to bypass the exploratory mandate phase for the top three parties and go directly to the second phase, the meeting of political party leaders.

He underlined that the government formed should also include SYRIZA and Dem. Ar because otherwise no serious decision or agreement could be planned and implemented "without national rallying and with some people waiting around the corner as the opposition".

Venizelos stressed that all the parties should shoulder their responsibilities and that PASOK was taking charge of its own while "being fully aware of its guaranteeing role".

PASOK's leader insisted that the formation of a government of co-responsibility was the "only responsible stance" and that this was not only confirmed but made imperative.amna

Regarding its own low percentage, he said the party had nevertheless succeeded in withstanding the strong election pressure, both numerically and politically. www.amna.gr

"Before the elections, we said the absolute truth about the state of the country, which was made worse due to the extended period without government," he added, stressing that the country did not have a day to lose nor the margins to play political games.amna

[03] Barroso, Van Rompuy issue joint statement on Greek election result

They stressed that they "continue to stand by Greece as a member of the EU family and of the Euro area".

"The Greek people have spoken. We fully respect its democratic choice. We are hopeful that the election results will allow a government to be formed quickly," the statement read. amna

"Today, we salute the courage and resilience of the Greek citizens, fully aware of the sacrifices which are demanded from them to redress the Greek economy and build new, sustainable growth for the country," they added and indicated their readiness to work with the new government and support the continued efforts of Greece to put its economy on a sustainable path.

They noted that the second economic adjustment programme agreed between Greece and the Eurogroup was "the basis upon which to build to foster growth, prosperity and jobs for the Greek people" and promised to continue assisting Greece in achieving these goals.

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