Greece coalition partners pulls ministers
Greece: Junior coalition party to withdraw ministers from government
Leader of Democratic Left party Fotis Kouvelis leaves the prime minister's office after a meeting in Athens, on Thursday, June 20, 2013. Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was meeting with coalition partners for a third time this week late Thursday to decide on the fate of public broadcaster ERT, after it was shut down nine days ago, causing a political crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- A junior partner in Greece's coalition government says it will withdraw its two cabinet ministers from the government following a dispute over state broadcaster ERT that has thrown the bailed-out country back into crisis.
Democratic Left party officials said the ministers of justice and civil service reform would resign from the 17-member cabinet of ministers within the day.
It was not immediately clear whether the party would continue to support conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' coalition government in parliament.
Samaras' three-party coalition currently has 167 seats in the 300-member parliament, including the 14 lawmakers from the Democratic Left.
The crisis in Greece saw the country's borrowing costs spike Friday, while shares on the Athens Stock Exchange were 3.2 percent lower.
