Prime Minister George Papandreou struggled to hold on to power after Greece’s largest opposition party rebuffed his overtures to form a national government, raising the prospect of elections that could delay aid needed to prevent default.
Opposition leader Antonis Samaras rejected sharing power with Papandreou and called on the premier to quit. Papandreou, 59, scrapped a referendum on an accord with the European Union to avert a split in his party before a confidence vote scheduled for midnight tonight.
“I never excluded any topic from the discussion, not even my own position,” Papandreou told lawmakers in Parliament. “I am not tied to a particular post. I repeat I am not interested in being re-elected but just in saving the country.”
Papandreou’s inability to resolve the political gridlock pushes the country closer to the first default by a European Union nation even as his scrapping of the referendum averted potential ejection from the 17-member euro zone. European Commission President Jose Barroso called for “national unity,” saying Greece is on the verge of running out of funds.
“There’s a real danger of a disorderly default,” billionaire investor George Soros said in a speech in Budapest. Without support for Greek lenders, “you’re liable to have a run on the banks in other countries as well. That’s the danger of a meltdown.”
Opposition leader Antonis Samaras rejected sharing power with Papandreou and called on the premier to quit. Papandreou, 59, scrapped a referendum on an accord with the European Union to avert a split in his party before a confidence vote scheduled for midnight tonight.
“I never excluded any topic from the discussion, not even my own position,” Papandreou told lawmakers in Parliament. “I am not tied to a particular post. I repeat I am not interested in being re-elected but just in saving the country.”
Papandreou’s inability to resolve the political gridlock pushes the country closer to the first default by a European Union nation even as his scrapping of the referendum averted potential ejection from the 17-member euro zone. European Commission President Jose Barroso called for “national unity,” saying Greece is on the verge of running out of funds.
“There’s a real danger of a disorderly default,” billionaire investor George Soros said in a speech in Budapest. Without support for Greek lenders, “you’re liable to have a run on the banks in other countries as well. That’s the danger of a meltdown.”
http://contrasola.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post_6399.html?zx=62a93609293f58b5
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking the time to comment on our blog :)