Coalition government deal reached - The Best from Greece

Prime Minister George Papandreou and opposition leader Antonis Samaras agreed on the form of a coalition government at talks hosted by the president Karolos Papoulias on Sunday. 

 

A presidency statement said they will meet again on Monday to discuss who would lead the coalition government, but that Papandreou would not lead the new administration.

 

The announcement more-or-less repeated the positions alternately promoted by the two main parties' leaderships over the past three days, namely, a new coalition or consensus government will be formed and assigned the eagerly watched task of ratifying and implementing the latest agreements with eurozone partners and creditors.

 

An election will be held after the agreements are shepherded through the Parliament, although no specific date was cited.

 

Representatives of both the prime minister and the main opposition leaders will meet on Monday morning, or even overnight, for negotiations towards this end, the announcement read.

 

Papandreou asked the president to hold the three party meeting after a cabinet meeting to explore the possibility of an agreement soon, the prime minister's office said shortly before the cabinet session ended.

 

Prime Minister George Papandreou said he would not head a new coalition government, which could be agreed with the opposition as early as Sunday, a statement from his office said.

 

"It is clear that this government will pass the baton but it will not pass it to a void -- it will pass it to a new government, if we agree on it, and I hope this will happen soon. And when I say soon, I mean today, not tomorrow," he said in the text of remarks to his cabinet, released to the media.

 

"I'm not interested in being prime minister in the new government."

 

Papandreou also told his cabinet elections should not be held before February or March, after a eurozone bailout is approved by parliament.

 

 

Αrchbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos on Sunday proceeded with a rare intervention into the latest political developments plaguing the country, stressing in a statement that political parties must now do "their duty."

 

The statement was posted on the Archiodecese's webpage.

 

"In these crucial hours for the country, there is no time for mistakes, or for thoughts that do not serve but the national good. I ask from the responsible political powers of the country to do their national duty by undertaking their historical responsibilities in the country's interest best interests."

 

 

The Communist Party (KKE) on Sunday stated that the safeguarding of the 6th tranche of a EC-IMF-ECB bailout loan is an "excuse" for the formation of a cooperation government by the country's mainstream political system.

 

"...this is the demand of Greek plutocracy and EU. Their aim is not to save the people but to subject them and lead them to an even greater massacre via the loan agreement and the Memoranda of bankruptcy.

 

"Prime Minister George Papandreou has essentially resigned and what remains now is the official procedure," Popular Orthodox Rally (LA.O.S) leader George Karatzaferis said on Sunday, adding that deadlines are asphyxiating. (Athens News, AMNA, Reuters)