Mogelijke opvolger Papandreou is oud-bestuurslid Europese Centrale Bank (en)
BRUSSELS - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou i is readying himself to step down and is likely to be replaced by a former vice-president of the European Central Bank after a series of his ministers deserted him.
A transitional administration is to be led by Lucas Papademos, Greece’s representative on the board of the ECB i from 2002 to 2010, the BBC and Reuters are reporting, although a Greek official told EUobserver “several names are circulating”.
The same official confirmed to this website that Papandreou’s resignation “appears to be true”.
A meeting of the cabinet was held mid afternoon to establish the transitional government, which will then vote on the loan contract with the EU i and IMF i, according to reports.
State television and the state ANA news agency have also reported that Papandreou is to meet the Greek president following the cabinet session.
The prime minister however is not to step down officially until he has successfully negotiated with the head of the opposition conservative New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, over the formation of the unity government.
At an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy in the morning, it is understood that six of his ministers led by finance minister Evangelos Venizelos pulled their support for the leader due to their opposition to his plan to hold a referendum asking the Greek people whether they supported a deal reached with other EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on 26 October.
Papandreou’s shock announcement that he would seek the democratic endorsement of a programme that would see the country put under permanent supervision of the EU-IMF-ECB troika and years of further austerity infuriated other European capitals.
Late on Wednesday, the finance minister declared in a public statement his opposition to the referendum and called for the formation of a government of national unity, a move that appeared to have tipped the balance against the prime minister.
Deputies also began to signal that they would not vote in favour of a referendum and on Thursday, MP Eva Kaili said she would vote against the government in a vote of confidence scheduled for Friday, meaning that Papandreou now has in principle the support of just 151 lawmakers in the 300-seat house.
The former ECB man, should he become Greece’s new leader, has a doctorate in economics and is know to be a strong supporter of the austerity strategy being imposed.
Delivering a lecture to the Association of Greek Bankers last November, he said that the government had been courageous in what it had achieved but deeper public spending cuts were necessary.
"If we do not have real and long-term economic discipline we can not ensure financial stability," he said.
The proposal to hold a referendum on the new Greek bail-out or a question asking whether the country should stay in the eurozone appears to have been shelved, although on Wednesday, eurogroup chief and Luxembourgish Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said that officials were at work on options should Greece exit the single currency.
Asked by a reporter what were to happen were the country to leave, Juncker said in an interview with ZDF Morgenmagazin: "We are working on the subject of how to ensure there is not a disaster for the people in Germany, Luxembourg, the euro zone. We are absolutely prepared for the situation which I describe and which I want to be avoided."
Also on Friday, the European Commission said that if Greece were to leave the euro, it would have to leave the European Union as well.
"The treaty doesn't foresee an exit from the eurozone without exiting the EU," spokeswoman Karolina Kottova told reporters in Brussels.”
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