Quiet man creates a continent of raised voices

Just before being elected as Greek prime minister two years ago, George Papandreou said he went into politics to rid his country of the “huge upheavals” and struggles of the years of dictatorship.

Dictatorship in Greece is long dead, but the calm, quietly spoken man who remains – just – prime minister, has triggered an upheaval which has rocked the European Union and held the attention of world leaders meeting in Cannes.

Mr Papandreou, 59, was born in America when his father was in exile, but was raised with Greek politics in his blood and has lead the Pasok Socialist party since 2004.

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On election in October 2009, he vowed to revive the country’s struggling economy with a multi-billion euro financial injection to boost jobs and growth and tackle corruption.

But he had inherited a Treasury mess much worse than anticipated and, after initial emphatic resistance, admitted that Greece did, after all, need EU financial assistance.

It was the start of a fight to enforce deep austerity measures which triggered a public backlash, and led Mr Papandreou to gamble all this week by offering a referendum giving his people a say in the medicine they were being asked to swallow.

The unassuming, charming man who speaks English as well as Greek, triggered the wrath of key EU leaders embarrassed by the surprise referendum call, just when they had finalised another bail-out deal for Greece and a 50 per cent write-down of Greek debt.

Mr Papandreou stuck to his guns – until support began to crumble even among his allies at home. He now faces a confidence vote which could end his political career without any of his reforming pledges being fulfilled.

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