COMMON GROUND: Greece’s two pro-bailout parties appeared to be moving toward forming a coalition government after a bruising election watched closely because of its potential impact on the world economy.
THE BACKGROUND: Sunday’s vote — the second national election in six weeks — again left no party with enough votes to form a government on its own. Antonis Samaras’ conservative New Democracy party won the most seats —129 — in parliament and was leading efforts to forge a coalition.
THE DISCUSSIONS: Negotiations were pushed to a second day after the head of the socialist party, which came in third with 33 seats in the balloting, insisted on a broad partnership. A coalition needs 151 seats to form a government.
