Main Greek opposition party rejects government plea for cross-party agreement on austerity

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Source: Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s main opposition conservative party on Friday rejected a government plea for cross-party agreement on new austerity measures, despite strong pressure from the European Union and investor worries about a default.

Conservative leader Antonis Samaras said he could not endorse a program that would “flatten the Greek economy and destroy Greek society.”

Samaras and other opposition party leaders met with Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou for more than three hours in a failed bid to reach a deal that would extend debt reduction measures to 2015, two years beyond the present government’s mandate.

“After a week of scare-mongering, the Prime Minister sought a meeting of party leaders, although there was nothing new available and, essentially, without any agenda,” Samaras said in a live televised address. “The only thing worth discussing right now is how to renegotiate the terms of the (bailout loan) agreement.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/greece-police-clash-with-doctors-over-health-cuts/2011/05/26/AGihKtBH_story.html