Greece tries to regain stability

GREEK party leaders laboured yesterday to agree on a new prime minister, with the nation and the EU clamouring for a deal on a unity coalition to save the country’s finances and end the chaos threatening the euro.

A source at the ruling socialist party said that negotiations on getting former European Central Bank vice president Lucas Papademos to lead the interim government were being concluded, but details were still being ironed out.

There was no word on whether Papademos, a Greek economist known in European capitals, would accept the job.

After signs that a coalition could be formed quickly, the momentum seemed lost in the drive to create a government to rule only three months.

The source insisted that progress was being made on the “100 day government“, which must push a €130 billion bailout for Greece through the parliament before calling elections in February.

“Negotiations are being finalised with Papademos as PM,” the source told Reuters. “They are going through the final details.”

As national central bank governor, Papademos oversaw Greece’s entry into the eurozone in 2002, although recent events have cast doubt on that membership.

Outgoing prime minister George Papandreou told his cabinet he hoped to have the name of his successor on Tuesday.

Deputy tourism minister George Nikitiadis denied the negotiations were losing pace. “I have the opposite feeling, that everything is going very well, things are going to be fulfilled pretty soon and we will start working in the next days with stronger momentum.”