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Dublin: 14 °C Tuesday 21 May, 2013

Papandreou expected to resign as Greek prime minister

A government statement says that an emergency cabinet meeting this afternoon will be his last.

Greek PM George Papandreou
Greek PM George Papandreou
Image: AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis

THE GREEK OPPOSITION leader Antonis Samras has reiterated his calls for the resignation of the Greek prime minister George Papandreou, and it’s believed that today’s cabinet meeting may be Papandreou’s last.

CNN reports that the Greek government has released a statement confirming that Papandreou will step down following the formation of a new coalition government.

Greek leaders have entered a second day of closed-door talks today in an effort to end the ongoing political crisis, under intense pressure to ensure the country doesn’t go bankrupt in the next few weeks and that it remains in the eurozone. An emergency cabinet meeting will be held at 4pm local time.

Papandreou, mid-way into a four-year term, has promised early elections by March and said he would step aside once a new unity government is agreed on.

Earlier Samaras said talks between the two parties were taking place and Antonis Samaras also reiterated his stance that Papandreou must resign before any coalition discussions can take place.

Samaras made his latest comments after a brief meeting with President Karolos Papoulias, a mainly ceremonial figure who has called for collaboration between the two main parties.

The socialists and the main opposition New Democracy differ on the duration of a caretaker government, with the opposition demanding elections within a few weeks and the government saying the coalition Cabinet should last through the end of February.

Read: Greek leaders continue talks, with only five weeks worth of cash left

- Additional reporting by AP

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Comments (16 Comments)

  • That waster Antonis Samras only last month was accusing Georgie of signing away sovereignty of greece.
    of course that was when he was in opposition and there didnt seem to be any immediate chance of being in power himself.
    now that he is likely to be in some big position of power he has changed his tune.

    mmmmm….where have i seen this u-turn dynamic before?….

    Reply
  • @ Reada, couldnt agree more.

    @holeymoley, its not called reality. reality is what we have to live with when they sell us down the river.
    realpolitik is the word ur looking for, and it is a disgusting trade. they have ZERO vision, all they do is re-act to the casinos. a classic tail wagging the dog.

    rve had enuf of these self serving, gutless slieveens.

    Reply
  • WOW yeah we look real good!!!…

    Reply
  • I think we’re in no position to be criticising Greece here.

    The big thing we don’t like about them is that they consistently voted for governments which overspent their money and ran up huge debts.

    Fianna Fail anyone?

    We’re just as guilty sadly, although to a lesser degree and at least we’re working to resolve our troubles, but the comparison is still strong between our boom-time mentalities!!!

    Reply
  • The truth is that democracy is an awful economic system as politicians are torn between doing the right thing for the country, and doing the thing that will get them re-elected. Unfortunately the best economic system would be one that disregards human rights, hence China is doing so well.

    Populist vote-winning measures kept Fianna Fail in power for so long. They ignored good advice from the Dept of Finance and others because acting on it would have cost them votes. The only difference between Ireland and Greece is that the Greek politicians were even more populist than the Irish ones. We needed to put a lid on the housing boom, reform the tax system, rein in the unions and cut the public sector years ago. Unfortunately, Turkeys don’t vote for Xmas.

    Reply
    • hot toddy, theres no doubt that some of what u say is correct.
      but can u not see the enormity of whats at play here.

      if we acquiesce to the casinos and the banks now, we are effectively saying the democracy does not have any power.

      we are at the biggest crossroads since governments were set up to protect the common man from the oligarchs.

      we let this slide and our children, and their children will despise us for being weak minded, weak willed slaves.
      we drop the ball on this, we leave an even bigger fight for future generations.
      IMO, thats how big this is.

      Reply
    • Hot toddy. Not a popular idea but I think things could be different if the whip was removed. It was unfair of me to imply that all politicians lack integrity as there are good people there but unfortunately most are strangled by a ridiculous whip system if in a party.

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    • Joseph, I’m not suggesting we acquiesce on anything, just giving my view on what got both Greece and Ireland to where we both are today.

      Reada, there may be something in having more free votes but withdrawing the whip will lead to even more parish-politics thane have now. Remember when 2 independents had the country over a barrel over supporting an essential budget, and the government only got it through by supporting their local pet projects?

      In my view what’s missing is some real expertise in the government. We expect schoolteachers, union reps and people who have never worked outside of politics to run a complex multi-billion euro economy and are surprised when it goes wrong! We should copy the US system where the elected government recruit the most successful people in their field into prestigious government jobs with real power (accountable to the elected officials).

      Of course democracy is the way to go, we just need to make it work better.

      Reply
  • The Greeks cannot be trusted. They lied to get into the eurozone in the first place and now they seem to not know their heads from their arses!!! Only benefit is that they make us look good!!!

    Reply
  • Eoin Faz 06/11/11 #

    What we need is monetary policy that allows for double digit inflation for a few years. Devalued money means less debt and easier government decisions. That way they won’t have to tell such blatant lies on every subject, and we won’t have to pretend to believe them to maintain the status quo.

    Reply

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