Greek lawmakers debated a confidence motion ahead of a crunch vote Friday which could see embattled Prime Minister George Papandreou turfed out of office and trigger fresh eurozone turmoil. As Papandreou sought to forge a last-minute political deal after calls for his resignation, his ministers said Greece's squabbling parties must work together to pull the country out of the bankruptcy-threatening deadlock.
"The widest possible agreement in the political system is needed" to ratify a hard-won 100 billion euro EU bailout deal which European leaders have threatened to withdraw, Environment Minister George Papaconstantinou told deputies. "The bailout deal requires this... that is why the government asks for a vote of confidence," said Papaconstantinou, who was finance minister until June. Agriculture Minister Costas Skandalidis added: "A national agreement is the basic strategy to take the government out of the crisis."
Some 7,000 Communist protesters marched outside parliament to demand Papandreou's resignation, waving red flags and chanting. Over 70 deputies from all parties have lined up to address the chamber before a scheduled speech by Papandreou at around 2130 GMT, some 30 minutes before the vote is set to begin, a parliament source said.
They include several ruling Pasok party deputies who were prevented from addressing a rowdy parliamentary group meeting on Thursday that was cut short. Papandreou, whose shock call for a referendum on the massive EU rescue package earned him a humiliating dressing-down from European officials, looks uncertain to survive much longer, with fresh calls for his resignation.
The result of the confidence vote is impossible to call. In theory, Papandreou's socialist Pasok party enjoys a majority of two in the 300-seat parliament, but a handful of MPs have threatened to defy him, demanding he step down in favour of a unity government to steer Greece out of the crisis. Analysts said that renewed political uncertainty could halt the disbursement of a new eight-billion-euro ($11-billion) loan package that Greece needs by December 15 to pay the bills.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who earlier informed Greece's EU partners they had scrapped the referendum, said the aim of the confidence vote would be to form a national unity government. This government would seek to implement the terms of the EU bailout plan clinched in late-night talks in Brussels last week, guarantee the country's future in the eurozone and "respect the sacrifices of the Greek people," he said.
It was still not clear whether Papandreou would step aside, but in a dramatic development late Thursday he indicated he was ready to put country before personal ambition. "I have excluded nothing from the discussion" with his political opponents, Papandreou told lawmakers. "Even my own position. And I am not tied to any particular post. I have already said that and I am proving it daily.
"Even my re-election does not interest me. What interests me is saving the country," the prime minister added. As uncertainty grew over the outcome of the chaos in Athens, stock markets headed lower after originally opening in the black. The German exchange fell more than two percent in mid-afternoon trade. Greece's stock market also opened higher, then fell back to close with losses of 1.17 percent.
On the street, people appeared to be in favour of a government of national unity. One pensioner who gave his name as Takis, told AFP: "As matters stand, nothing can save us. "There must be a government of national salvation with all the parties until we have elections. They way things are now George (Papandreou) cannot continue." On Syntagma Square, where violent demonstrations have taken place during the crisis, Sofia Papadimitriou, a 25-year-old student said: "Papandreou must go."
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