Reuters
June 28, 2011
Don't let the Laurel and Hardy image fool you. Prime Minister George Papandreou and his new Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos may look an odd couple but they are dead serious about averting default on Greece's debt.
The premier and his new number two are worlds apart in style, experience and skill sets, but they have set aside their differences to rescue Greece from its deepest crisis in decades and keep their socialist party in power.
Papandreou is a soft-spoken, athletic 59-year-old who is comfortable in the corridors of Brussels. Venizelos, 54, is a stocky party stalwart who can easily bully rogue members of parliament.
"We have two prime ministers," far right LAOS leader George Karatzaferis told parliament after the June 17 reshuffle that thrust Venizelos into the Finance Ministry hot seat. "One is good for roaming the parlors of Europe and the other for staying home to do the dirty work."
His tough-guy image may have lost Venizelos the battle for the PASOK party leadership to Papandreou in 2007 but the premier is now counting on that reputation to corral rebel deputies behind a mid-term austerity plan that must pass parliament this week to avoid a financial collapse with potentially dire consequences for the global economy.
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