Greek PM returns to talks on debt deal with backing of opposition parties after referendum

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras returns to the table of negotiations with creditors to clinch a new debt deal and avert a looming default and a possible Grexit with the support of opposition parties, according to an official declaration released on Monday.

A day after Greek voters said a resounding "NO" to the lenders' June 25 "harsh and unsustainable" offer in a landmark referendum the two-partite coalition government of the Radical Left SYRIZA party of Tsipras and the Right- wing Independent Greeks co-signed a declaration with three opposition parties.

They jointly reiterated Greece's commitment to efforts to reach an "honest compromise" on the next package of fiscal adjustment policies and reforms with international lenders in return for the release of further vital aid to keep the country afloat and within the euro zone.

"The recent mandate of the Greek people was not for rift, but for further enhanced efforts to achieve a socially fair and economically viable agreement," said an official announcement issued by the Presidential mansion in Athens.

The statement was released at the end of a marathon seven-hour meeting of the Council of the political leaders of parties represented in parliament with the exception of the head of the far- Right Golden Dawn party.

"Our common goal is to seek a solution that will ensure the adequate coverage of the country's financing needs, reforms to restore social cohesion and promote growth, policies to tackle unemployment and a pledge for the start of a substantial discussion to deal with the problem of the sustainability of the Greek debt load," read the declaration.

It was co-signed by the leaders of the main opposition conservative New Democracy party, the socialists of PASOK and the centrist River (Potami) party who all called for national unity after the referendum which divided Greek society.

The Greek Communist party General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas did not add his signature, arguing that the current framework leads to a third bailout program which will be as painful for Greek people as the first two implemented over the past five years.

Buoyed by the outcome of the referendum with the 60 percent of Greeks saying NO to the creditors' offer, Tsipras travels to Brussels on Tuesday for an emergency euro zone summit to present the new proposals of the Greek government for an agreement, government sources said after a telephone conversation he held on Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Greek leader also had a telephone contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Monday, according to the same sources, while the Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos talked with his French counterpart Francois Hollande.

Tsipras has said before the referendum that he expects that an agreement can be sealed on Tuesday so that liquidity in the banking sector is restored immediately with the European counterparts assistance and Greek banks which are closed since June 29 reopen.

In their declaration the Greek political parties leaders stressed on Monday that the restoration of liquidity in cooperation with the European Central Bank was top priority.

Yanis Varoufakis, the outspoken Greek Finance Minister, announced his resignation from the post earlier on Monday, claiming that he wanted to facilitate the government to reach a deal, since some interlocutors objected to his presence in negotiations.

Varoufakis held a leading role in many cases in the tensions caused between Greece and its creditors in the past six months of talks.

His successor was expected to be announced later on Monday. Varoufakis indicated that it will most likely be Euclid Tsakalotos, the mild-mannered Deputy Foreign Minister of International Economic Affairs and chief coordinator of Greece's negotiating team. Enditem