WORLD : New Elections Loom in Greece

ATHENS —  A political crisis and new elections loomed today as conservative leader Constantine Mitsotakis was given three days to form a government but was rejected by a possible left-wing coalition partner.

Both Mitsotakis’ New Democracy Party and the communist-dominated leftist alliance, which together won nearly 60% of Sunday’s vote, say a new government first must punish those responsible for the scandals of the defeated socialist administration of Premier Andreas Papandreou.

But the alliance of the pro-Soviet Greek Communist Party and the Greek Left Party, which finished third, turned down Mitsotakis’ offer to join in an interim government that would investigate the corruption.