November 6, 2011
As pressure mounted on Prime Minister George Papandreou to resign, the Greek president convened a meeting with Mr. Papandreou and the opposition leader on Sunday night to hammer out a resolution to the political impasse that stands in the way of a deal to avert the country’s default.
Mr. Papandreou is facing calls from within his own Socialist Party and from the center-right opposition to resign so a new unity government can push the European Union’s debt agreement through Parliament, a step European leaders consider crucial to shoring up the euro.
The opposition leader, Antonis Samaras, repeated Sunday that he would enter talks on a unity government only if Mr. Papandreou resigned. Mr. Papandreou himself has repeatedly said that he would be willing to step aside for the deal to go through.
But after meeting with his cabinet in the afternoon, Mr. Papandreou said Mr. Samaras would first have to agree to a seven-point plan of priorities he considers critical for the Greek economy. The priorities include securing the release of European rescue funds, meeting fiscal targets imposed by foreign creditors, and passing the 2012 budget by the end of the year.
Several government ministers had also insisted that the composition of a unity government must be agreed to before the prime minister stepped down.
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