February 5, 2012
Greece's political party leaders will resume talks Monday after major differences on draconian reforms as part of an international aid package remained unresolved following a marathon meeting Sunday.
Leaders from the Socialist party, the conservative New Democracy party and the small nationalist party Laos met with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos in a bid to find common ground on the terms of a second bailout that Greece needs to avoid default.
After a meeting lasting more than five hours, Mr. Papademos said the leaders agreed on some of the basic points of the international lenders' demands, including spending cuts of 1.5% of gross domestic product in 2012. They also agreed to secure the viability of supplemental pensions and to boost competitiveness by adopting measures in a range of fields, he said.
But in separate remarks, the socialist and conservative parties indicated they were still far from an agreement on proposed wage cuts in the private sector, while the Socialists also insisted on giving the state voting rights as part of a bank-recapitalization plan.
Main opposition New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said creditors "are asking for more recession" from Greece. "I am fighting in every way to avoid this," he told reporters Sunday.
The head of Laos, Georgios Karatzaferis, said he "will not contribute to a revolutionary explosion arising from impoverishment."
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