Athens: Greece`s coalition government lost its smallest partner on Friday after emergency talks failed to break a deadlock caused by the dramatic closure of state broadcaster ERT last week.
But fears of early elections dissipated after the coalition`s second largest partner, the socialists, said earlier they would continue to support the year-old government.
Antonis Manitakis, the outgoing minister of administrative reform, confirmed that the moderate Democratic Left party was abandoning the conservative-led administration of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
"Following the party`s decision to withdraw from the government and withdraw its ministers I will table my resignation to the prime minister," Manitakis told reporters after a marathon party meeting.
The Athens stock exchange, which had opened with a 2.6-per cent drop, accelerated its fall to 3.3 per cent on the news as the opposition charged the debt-strapped government had been weakened.
The pullout means that in addition to Manitakis, the minister of justice and deputy ministers for health and education need to be replaced.
Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos had earlier taken a swipe at the moderate leftists for abandoning the government.
"It is clear that when we share a responsibility, we all share alike," Venizelos said after the late-night government talks.
"You can`t pick and choose," Venizelos said.
Late yesterday, Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis said he had disagreed with conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras` handling of ERT`s closure.
"We disagree with actions that offend legality," Kouvelis had said after last-ditch talks with Samaras and Venizelos.
Samaras, who was just one year into his four-year term, has pledged to fight on to enact unpopular austerity reforms demanded by Greece`s international creditors.
"No one wants elections right now. Today we have marked one year as government and we will do our full (four-year) term," Samaras said in a televised address after failing to win over Kouvelis.
The pullout of Democratic Left, which has 14 deputies in the 300-seat parliament, leaves the conservatives and socialists with a combined strength of 153 MPs, just enough to keep control of the chamber.
AFP
