–Adds Reaction From Main Opposition Party Leader Samaras and Others
–Finance Minister Papaconstantinou Seen Likely To Be Ousted

ATHENS (MNI) – Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou announced
Wednesday evening that he will form a new government on Thursday and
will not resign his office as had been widely anticipated earlier in the
day.

Papandreou said he will seek the Parliament’s approval for the new
government and vowed, “I will continue to do my duty with the help of
the party’s MPs and the Greek people.”

Earlier in the day, Papandreou had held an emergency meeting with
the president of the Republic Karolos Papoulias, and a government
spokesman later said that the prime minister was considering stepping
down in the name of national unity. He had been expected to announce his
resignation this evening, and the formation of a coalition government
with the main opposition party was anticipated.

But instead, Papandreou vowed to stay on, blaming the opposition
for the breakdown of the talks and the failure to form a coalition. He
said he had sought a consensus “but got rejected.”

Moments after Papandreou spoke, the country’s main opposition
leader, Antonis Samaras, head of the New Democracy Party, issued a
statement demanding early elections. He said Papandreou was unable to
govern that Greece’s EU partners would soon realize that.

Samaras also refuted Papandreou’s version of events, saying that it
was Papandreou who had refused to form a coalition. Samaras said he had
accepted Papandreou’s proposal for a coalition government. The prime
minister, he said, has “missed an historic opportunity.”

Other political party leaders also called for early elections
shortly after Papandreou spoke, characterizing his political handling of
the situation as “ridiculous” and asserting that he had lost his
credibility.

A government source told reporters that the prime minister “was
forced to back down” from his initial intention to resign, after several
cabinet members pressured him to reconsider.

Earlier in the day, Samaras had stressed in uncompromising terms
that his party would oppose the government’s new E28 billion package of
austerity measures. Passage of the measures is considered a
pre-requisite for a new Greek bailout package from Greece’s European
Union partners and the International Monetary Fund.

Papandreou’s Socialist party has a razor thin majority of 4 seats
in Parliament after one of his MPs resigned on Tuesday. According to
Greek press reports, up to 10 more Socialist MPs are prepared to resign
or change their party status to independent in protest against the new
measures, which also include a E50 billion privatization plan.

Papandreou’s announcement this evening capped a crazy day in which
Greece seemed to be spiraling toward chaos, as tens of thousands of
protesters surrounded the Parliament and the Finance Ministry to protest
the new austerity package, which includes salary and pension cuts as
well as tax hikes across all income brackets.

The demonstration turned violent, as angry protesters pelted
members of Parliament with eggs and bricks and police reported injuries.

If Papandreou does indeed name a new government Thursday, it is
widely expected that Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou will lose
his job. Little else is known about the composition of a new government,
though Lucas Papademos, the former European Central Bank vice president
and ex-governor of the Bank of Greece, has been frequently mentioned as
somebody who could be tapped for a senior role.

It is unclear whether a government reshuffle will be enough to ease
the pressure brought to bear by MPs in Papandreou’s own party who are
threatening to defect and oppose the government’s new fiscal package.

It is also far from certain that new faces in a Socialist party
government will appease the thousands of demonstrators who took the
streets of Athens Wednesday for the 22nd consecutive day.

The most recent opinion poll, published last Sunday, showed a clear
loss of momentum for the ruling Socialists, as the conservative New
Democracy party pulled into the lead for the first time since general
elections in 2009.

According to the poll, published in Kathimerini newspaper, the
Socialists got the support of just 27% of potential voters while New
Democracy received 31%.

The political and social meltdown in Greece is occurring as
Eurozone finance ministers continue to be unable to reach an agreement
on how to ensure that private creditors contribute to a new Greece
bailout package, estimated in the vicinity of E85 to E90 billion.

Germany is pushing for a 7-year extension on maturities of
outstanding Greek debt, but the ECB has forcefully rejected that
proposal, warning that any solution that could be considered a default
or partial default would have “very dangerous” consequences.

In its latest Financial Stability Review, published Wednesday, the
central bank warned that contagion from the Eurozone’s debt crisis was
the biggest threat facing the monetary union.

–Angelika Papamiltiadou, a_papamiltiadou@hotmail.com

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