Second independent to join ND brings conservative MPs to 129

New Democracy saw the number of its MPs in Greece's 300-seat Parliament rise to 129 after two independents joined the conservative party on Tuesday.

Shortly after Mika Iatridi, MP for the Dodecannese, was welcomed back into the party fold, Costas Giovanopoulos, who split from the Independent Greeks, joined New Democracy after meeting with the party chief, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Like Iatridi, Giovanopoulos had backed the coalition government's presidential candidate in a Parliament election that failed to produce a winner, leading Greece to hold early elections on January 25.