Greece crisis talks fail to decide on George Papandreou’s successor

Published on Thursday 10 November 2011 00:43

GREECE’S critical power-sharing talks have hit a new hurdle, with political leaders leaving a top-level meeting without deciding on a new prime minister to take over from George Papandreou.

If a new government cannot be formed, the country almost certainly faces a general election which could put its €130 billion (£111.5bn) bail-out package in question and spark a further crisis in the eurozone.

Mr Papandreou only survived a confidence vote last week in his economic reforms after he agreed to step down so a government of national unity can be formed to see the reforms and austerity measures through.

He was also forced to ditch a proposal for a referendum on the eurozone’s bail-out package which had panicked the markets and horrified fellow European leaders.

The president’s office said the talks, which have already lasted three days, would resume this morning.

Earlier, Giorgos Karatzaferis, the head of a small right-wing party, had stormed out of the meeting, accusing the heads of the two main parties of using “trickery” but not giving any details. The breakdown in talks came less than an hour after Mr Papandreou said the country’s two main parties had reached an agreement to form an interim coalition government to secure a new €130bn debt deal and keep the country in the single currency.

Opposition leader Antonis Samaras blamed the governing socialists for the delay in naming a new premier. He said that his conservative party “will not become part of the problem” and that, according to the country’s constitution, the initiative for naming a candidate to head a new interim government lies with the governing party.

Repeated pledges to announce a new prime minister came to nothing despite intense European pressure to quickly resolve the crisis.

A final decision had been all but certain last night, with Mr Papandreou delivering a farewell televised speech to the nation in which he wished his successor well – although he did not name who that successor would eventually be. “The main political forces are joining together, to guarantee to Greece’s citizens that in the following months we will do whatever is necessary not only to secure the country’s position in the euro and implement the [debt deal] decisions but also to make use of its great benefits,” he said.

Analyst Costas Panagopoulos, head of pollsters Alco, said the Greek democracy was going through its worst moment since a military dictatorship was overthrown 37 years ago, and only now would serious negotiations begin. He said: “The prime minister’s responsibility is huge, relations between the political parties and society are so tense that I believe elections and big political changes are inevitable.”

A number of names have been mentioned to succeed Mr Papandreou. They include former European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos; parliamentary speaker Philippos Petsalnikos; Vassileios Skouris, president of the European Court of Justice; law professor Ioannis Koukiadis; EU ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros; and Panagiotis Roumeliotis, Greece’s representative to the International Monetary Fund.

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