Second attempt to form a Greek coalition government fails

The leader of the second place finisher in Greek elections the Syriza party has admitted failure today in his attempts to form a coalition government. Alexis Tsipras said he failed because he insisted on rejecting the austerity measures required by the Troika in return for new bailout money.

Tsipras talked only with New Democracy and PASOK the first and third parties in election results. He might have tried a left coalition but the Communist Party has indicated it would not join in a coalition.

The leader of the third running party Evangelos Venizelos now has his turn although it seems unlikely he can be successful. If he fails then there will be elections in June and a long period of crisis. There may be a great deal of pressure on PASOK and New Democracy to form another coalition to avoid elections and carry on with reforms.

If Athens rejects the austerity deal the money that was promised in June will probably not be given. Both the EU and Germany have made it clear they expect Greece to keep its commitments if it expects to have new money.

In the short term the EU will provide an installment of 6.7 billion to meet immediate debt obligations. Representatives of the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) have aborted a trip to Athens that was to happen in mid May. No date has been set for another meeting. The Troika are obviously standing by until the situation in Greece becomes more stable or at least clearer! For more see this article..

Obama should agree with new French president on some points

In an article in the Huffington Post Robert Naiman suggests that Obama should agree with Francois Hollande the newly elected French president on two points. First he should agree that a new deal in Europe promoting growth rather than emphasizing austerity should be promoted. Secondly, he should agree with Hollande that withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan should be speeded up.

As Naiman points out Obama is likely to try and convince Hollande not to withdraw French troops more quickly.. Naiman says that both Hollande and Obama agree on ending the Afghan war. On this I think that Naiman is incorrect. Obama is not that nterested in ending the war at present. In fact the Strategic Partnership Agreement extends U.S involvement in Afghanistan until at least 2024.What he is interested in is to commit less troops so that there are fewer casualties and less negative political reaction in an election year. He knows that the war is unpopular. But at the same time he is committing the U.S. to financing Afghanistan's military to the tune of about a billion a year after 2014.

Obama still supports NATO's involvement in Afghanistan. He simply wants other NATO members such as France to share in the cost both in terms of troops and financially.

Perhaps Obama will make common cause with Hollande on changing European austerity policy. However, I would not be surprised if he were luke warm even to that knowing that U.S. ally Britain and key European player Germany are in favor of continuing austerity measures as are most financial capitalists. For more see the full article.