Alex Tsipras fails to form government in Greece

Athens - Alexis Tsipras, leader of the far-left political party Syriza, has failed in his attempt to form a coalition government. The mandate to form a government will now be passed to Evangelos Venizelos, leader of PASOK.

Tsipras, whose party garnered the second highest number of votes in Sunday's elections, failed to reach an agreement with the mainstream parties of PASOK and New Democracy. A major problem was his insistence that both party leaders would revoke their written commitment to adhere to the conditions of the bailout memorandum. The five conditions which Tsipras demanded left ND leader Antonis Samaras declaring that his proposals would result in a forced exit of Greece from the euro-zone. Evangelos Venizelos will receive the mandate to form a new government on Thursday but as the Telegraph predicts, he is also expected to fail. It will then be the decision of President Karolos Papoulias to call all party leaders to discuss the prospect of the formation of a workable government, or call a second election, expected to take place on June 17. Fresh elections could see some of the third of voters who failed to vote in Sunday's elections taking to the polls. The three leading parties could gain from previous absentee votes or those previously cast to fringe parties who failed to garner enough support to gain the necessary three percent to enter parliament.