Greek PM to Peculiarly Quit after Convidence Vote Survival - Report

Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, had agreed to resign if a coalition with the opposition is reached. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, is, most likely, going to quit after reaching a coalition deal with the opposition New Democracy party.

The news was reported Friday by Reuters.

In a peculiar and unprecedented move, the Greek PM had agreed to resign under the condition the ministers from his cabinet say yes during the Friday vote of confidence.

In a Thursday speech in the Parliament, Papandreou declared he was not going to resign, but was evasive on the final future of his idea for a referendum on the EU bailout. He insists he had proposed the referendum to force the opposition to stop fighting the bailout packages.

The PM called on his fellow PASOK party members to back him in the vote of confidence in order to have a united and strong party in negotiations with the opposition.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos is said to be the strongest opponent of Papandreou. Reuters site their own source telling them that the PM had been asked to leave so that PASOK can be saved.

"He agreed to resign. It was civilized, no hard feelings. Venizelos told him he must resign with dignity and the ministers will help him do it. Of course, this will happen if he survives the vote of confidence, which is not certain at all," the source is quoted saying.

Papandreou had admitted the referendum idea had been a blunder.

On their side, political experts say the referendum is "dead," and the PM's survival in the vote of confidence – dubious.

Papandreou has a slim majority in the Parliament with just one seat.

At the beginning of the week, Papandreou surprised European leaders and stirred large-scale turmoil by announcing plans for a referendum on the bailout, which was set to give the heavily indebted Greek government EUR 130 B and a 50% write-off of its debts, in return for deeply unpopular austerity measures. Under growing international pressure, he conceded to give up on the referendum if the country's opposition endorses the package.

Meanwhile, G20 are holding an emergency meeting in Cannes, France, for the second day in a row to discuss the euro zone debt crisis.

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