November 3, 2011
The Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, has been forced by open warfare in his socialist party to cancel a planned referendum on the latest bailout package for his near-bankrupt country as he fought for political survival amid mounting scepticism over the crisis-hit nation's future in the eurozone.
After a day of high political drama, intrigue, farce and rumour, Greece descended further into chaos as Papandreou, clinging desperately to power, insisted on holding a confidence vote in his administration on Friday. But, as his majority shrivelled to just one, he also said talks over the creation of a unity government were already underway.
The transitional government would have the sole purpose of ratifying the €130bn financial aid package painstakingly hammered out in Brussels last week to rescue Greece from its debt spiral. "It's a terrible day for the party and Papandreou personally," lamented one government insider. "We are heading for an ignominious end as tragic as the crisis itself."
One Athens fruit seller summed up the anger at the country's politicians being felt on the streets: "Guillotines should be erected outside parliament. They have brought us to this point of catastrophe. We are bankrupt. We are destroyed".
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