Greek Opposition Parties Fail to Agree on Austerity Plan

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-27/greek-opposition-parties-fail-to-agree-on-austerity-plan.html

Updates with Samaras, Papandreou in second paragraph, Lipsky in 12th paragraph.)

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou failed to secure support from the country’s main opposition parties for new austerity measures, threatening his efforts to keep bailout funds flowing and avoid default.

Antonis Samaras, leader of Greece’s biggest opposition party, New Democracy, refused to back the plan for this second time this week, saying his party wouldn’t be blackmailed. In an e-mailed statement he offered an alternative of “fewer taxes, not more.” Papandreou will not call elections and plans to go ahead with the plan on his own, state-owned news agency ANA reported, without saying where it got the information.

“We will see yet more procrastination and confusion over the coming days,” said Ciaran O’Hagan, head of European rate strategy at Societe Generale SA in Paris. “We believe Greece and Ireland and other sovereigns all have the wherewithal to avoid a worsening of their public finances. But their will to take tough decisions is weakening.”