Papandreou says new coalition government will start soon
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou smiles prior to the confidence vote at the Greek Parliament in Athens on November 4, 2011.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced Saturday he is beginning efforts to form a new coalition government, which will secure broad approval for Greece’s latest bailout plan, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Papandreou, who won the parliamentary confidence vote last night, said negotiations to form the coalition government will start soon and told Greek President Karolos Papoulias that the nation had to forge a political consensus to prove it wanted to keep the euro, Reuters reported.
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"In order to create this wider cooperation, we will start the necessary procedures and contacts soon," he said, Reuters reported.
But Papandreou’s opposition is already speaking out against the new coalition that could potentially save the nation. Antonis Samaras, leader of the New Democracy party, flat out rejected Papandreou’s proposal, Reuters reported after negotiations were announced. The coalition would last for several months and shepherd the 130 billion euro bailout Greece needs.
"Whenever we try to find a way out, the Papandreou-Venizelos government invents new obstacles to block it," Samaras said, Reuters reported. "We made our offer and he (Papandreou) shut the door. The offer is still on the table. I hope he realizes his mistake."
Papandreou hopes Greece will avoid early elections and is pressuring the government to secure a bailout from the euro zone. Since joining the euro zone Greece’s economy has made the biggest downfall in Europe, sending the European markets onto a roller coaster ride and causing the Group of 20 summit to meet to figure out a solution to their problem.
Calls for Papandreou to resign have been continuously rolling out from the opposition party. Reuters reported that two opinion polls are in favor of Papandreou's plan.
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The highly-criticized prime minister, who called off a referendum this week that could have led to Greece being ejected from the euro, hopes to form a government of national unity that will allow Greece to convince other international leaders to resume aid before they run out of funds next month, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported.
According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Papandreou proposed Saturday “contributing definitively to creating a government of wider cooperation with the main goal of guiding legislation and anything else related to the historic Oct. 26” agreement with international lenders.
The new coalition is likely to exclude the opposition party, the New Democracy, Reuters reported. Sources told Reuters that negotiations are being led behind the scenes by Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who aims to head the new coalition and said Papandreou would step aside to make way for Venizelos.
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