Greek PM wins over cabinet, next up Merkel and Sarkozy - The Best from Greece

Some of his party lawmakers called for him to quit, accusing him of endangering Greek euro membership with his shock decision to call a popular vote, a move that pummelled the euro and global stocks. But the cabinet support at least gives him a stay of execution before a confidence vote in parliament on November 4.
 
"The referendum will be a clear mandate and a clear message in and outside Greece on our European course and participation in the euro," Papandreou told a cabinet meeting that lasted seven hours, a statement from his office said. "No one will be able to doubt Greece's course within the euro."
 
After the show of unity at home, Papandreou will face the leaders of France and Germany, who summoned him for crisis talks in Cannes, before a G20 summit of major world economies, to push for quick implementation of the bailout deal.
 
Papandreou's gamble guarantees weeks of uncertainty just when the 17-nation European currency area is desperate for a period of calm to implement the remedies agreed to overcome its sovereign debt crisis.
 
"This announcement took the whole of Europe by surprise," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a rare televised address on the steps of the Elysee palace in Paris. "The plan ... is the only way to solve Greece's debt problem."
 
Japan's finance minister, Jun Azumi, echoed his comments, as the Nikkei share average fell 2.2 percent on November 2. "Everyone is bewildered," he said.
Greek government spokesman Ilias Mosialos said the referendum would take place "as soon as possible, right after the basics of the bailout deal are formulated".
Greek officials have suggested it would probably be held in mid-January but the interior minister said it could happen as early as December, if details of the bailout agreement are nailed down earlier than envisaged.
Opinion polls suggest most Greeks think it is a bad deal, but much will depend on how Papandreou frames the debate, either on the bailout - and hence the painful cuts that will follow - or membership of the euro, which itself remains popular.