ATHENS, Nov 5, 2011 (AFP) – Greece was in political deadlock Saturday as the main opposition party resisted Prime Minister George Papandreou’s efforts to form a unity government he said was vital to keep the country in the eurozone.
Fresh from winning a knife-edge confidence vote in parliament early Saturday, Papandreou said he would start talks “very soon” to form a government to pass a bailout package crucial for keeping the debt-wracked nation afloat.
“The application of this deal is the precondition for us staying in the euro. It’s as important as that,” Papandreou told a crowd of reporters after talks with Greece’s president, Carolos Papoulias, that lasted just over an hour.
But only a few hours later, the leader of the main opposition party poured cold water on the plan, hardening his position that early elections must be held, a proposal Papandreou has dismissed as a “catastrophe.”
“We insist on our call for immediate elections,” said Antonis Samaras, the head of the conservative New Democracy party, in a highly anticipated television address.
The price of New Democracy’s support is Papandreou’s resignation and early elections, reiterated Samaras. “No one can offer a blank cheque.”
Papoulias said he would hold talks with Samaras on Sunday at 1:00 pm local time (1100 GMT). Under the Greek constitution, the president can summon the political parties for talks if the deadlock continues.
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“What the Greeks want — a team led by a third person, neither Papandreou nor Samaras — is in the process of being lost. It’s dangerous,” he said.
And there was no sign of a let-up in the fierce pressure being exerted by Greece’s European partners.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned in her weekly webcast that Europe would need a decade to clean up its finances and emerge from the current debt crisis.
“Everyone in Europe must make an effort to achieve all that is required,” Merkel said.
As the politicians squabbled, Greece is fast running out of cash.
via Crisis-hit Greece faces deadlock over unity government.
