Bakoyannis returns to ND fold

Page last updated at 12:51 GMT, Monday, May 21, 2012 - 17:51 EST

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Democratic Alliance leader throws lot in with former rival as other parties seek cooperations

The leader of conservative New Democracy, Antonis Samaras, and the head of the liberal Democratic Alliance, Dora Bakoyannis, a former conservative minister and political rival, on Monday announced that they were joining forces in “a patriotic, pro-European front” aimed at “battling the forces of populism” and ensuring that the country remains in the eurozone.

In a joint press conference, the one-time political foes declared that they would run in the June 17 general elections on a common platform with the chief aim of keeping Greece in the eurozone but also “resisting and changing the course of things,” an apparent reference to the rising popularity of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), which has called for the rejection of Greece’s debt deal with foreign creditors.

“Our aim is to extract the country from crisis but keep it in the eurozone,” Samaras said, adding, “SYRIZA is heading in the opposite direction.” The alliance aims to renegotiate the terms of the country’s debt deal.

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Comments

Shame on you!

May 22, 2012 by Irlandos (United Kingdom ), 52 weeks 14 hours ago

Ms Bakoyannis is not seeking to “battle the forces of populism”. She is seeking to prolong a pathetic political career she inherited from her also jumping-about father.

In accepting her, Samaras has accepted into his fold the scandal of an illegally undeclared €1,000,000 fleeing the country as well as every single scandal and rumour that has accompanied the "teflon" Mitsotakis family over the years.

Shame on you!!!

Good

May 22, 2012 by Jim Adams (United States ), 52 weeks 9 hours ago

Personally, I think it commendable when politicians drop their egos in hopes of accomplishing something worthwhile. Whether I agree or not with Samaras and New Democracy is not the point - the point is they are putting together a decent effort in trying and gain control of the political and head towards a possible government formation. Let's see how long this relationship will last. Thumbs up for effort. Now you just need a leader and a plan.

Re: Good

May 22, 2012 by Irlandos (United Kingdom ), 52 weeks 4 hours ago

@Jim Adams:
James,
The lady in question had her shoes handed to her by the electorate. Do you think she would come crawling to the man she resented for beating her as ND leader if she had a chance to get elected on her own? Exactly!

Re: Good

May 22, 2012 by Jim Adams (United States ), 52 weeks 2 hours ago

@Irlandos:
...and that is how it goes with politics and politicians. You win some, you loose some. The good ones (politicians) keep on fighting. Obviously Samaras wants her voters and she's looking for a second opportunity to take him out! Gotta love this kind of fight. There's plenty of intrigue and more suspense than a Hitchcock move here. :)