PASOK open to SYRIZA as part of wider alliance

By Renee Maltezou & Lefteris Papadimas

Greece's Socialist PASOK party could support a government led by the radical leftist SYRIZA party as part of a wider pro-euro alliance to steer the country out of its bailout program, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos told Reuters.

Venizelos, who is deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the outgoing conservative-led two-party coalition, said PASOK wants a broader consensus after a general election on Sunday which the anti-bailout SYRIZA appears likely to win.

"SYRIZA alone, or allying only with SYRIZA is not enough," Venizelos, the 58-year-old veteran of Greek politics said in an interview. "We want to be a national partner, not necessarily a government partner, but if the country needs us we are willing to help."

PASOK once dominated Greek politics and won power outright in 2009, just before the country sank into a debt crisis, but voters began deserting in droves after it imposed austerity policies in exchange for bailout loans from the European Union and IMF. For the past three years it has served as a junior partner in the coalition of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Opinion polls show SYRIZA widening its lead but failing to win outright on Sunday. During the campaign it has resisted talk of an alliance with anyone apart from the Communists, but has promised to seek a wider consensus after the election.

PASOK, alongside two other small center-left parties, has been considered a potential ally that would exercise a moderating influence on SYRIZA, which has worried financial markets and fellow eurozone governments with its promise to renegotiate Greece's huge debt and abandon austerity.

Venizelos said any alliance with SYRIZA and other parties would depend on their...