Greek Pro-Bailout Parties Seek Governing Coalition

At the Wall Street Journal, "Parties in Greece Near Coalition":

ATHENS — Greece's two leading pro-bailout parties appeared late Monday to be headed into an alliance that would give them the majority needed to keep promised overhauls on course, but they were working to find support from others in Parliament for a broad cross-party coalition government.

After formally receiving an exploratory mandate from Greek President Karolos Papoulias earlier in the day, conservative New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras met with the heads of four other parties. Following those meetings, Mr. Samaras signaled a deal between him and his Socialist Pasok party counterpart, Evangelos Venizelos, would be reached within three days.

"Mr. Venizelos and I are in agreement that, no matter what, a government of national salvation must be formed within the deadline for the mandate given to me by the president," Mr. Samaras said after the third of the four scheduled meetings.

Although New Democracy won the most votes in Sunday's elections, it doesn't control enough seats to govern on its own and must seek a coalition partner to form a majority in Greece's 300-member Parliament.

Its former coalition partner, Pasok—which also supports the country's European-led bailout—came in third in the vote. Combined, the two parties would control 162 seats, giving them a comfortable margin of support.

The new government will face high hurdles, with a central administration threatened by a cash crunch within weeks, an economy in free fall and an angry public exhausted by two years of austerity measures.

Its first task will be to come up with €11.5 billion ($14.6 billion) or more of new austerity measures demanded by the country's creditors, which could further inflame the public.

Facing strident opposition in Parliament from Greece's antiausterity Syriza party—which came in a strong second in Sunday's vote—Messrs. Samaras and Venizelos have been trying to bring in other party leaders to gain broad backing for tough decisions ahead.

One possible candidate could be the small, Democratic Left party, which accepts the loan deal but wants an easing of the terms of the austerity measures.

But even without that support, the two are ready to reach a deal and have held advanced talks on forming a government, officials from both parties said.

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BONUS: From Walter Russell Mead, "The Greek Election Solves… Nothing."