GREEK PRIME MINISTER George Papandreou faces a crucial confidence vote tonight following the turmoil that the PM’s referendum proposal caused earlier this week.
If the government does not pass the vote, it will collapse and general elections must be held.
Papandreou’s referendum announcement came just days after EU leaders reached an agreement to writedown 50 per cent of Greece’s privately-held debt. He said that the new second bailout agreement would be put to the Greek people.
Opposition politicians walked out of the parliament yesterday during a debate ahead of today’s vote, after opposition leader Antonis Smaaras branded Papandreou a “liar” for failing to fully detail his position on stepping down or staying put, Ekathimerini reports.
Papandreou’s party holds a slight two-seat majority in parliament.
Yesterday evening, Papandreou said that he had never wanted a referendum to come about and had dropped the plan to put the state’s second bailout deal to its people. Speaking in parliament, the prime minister said going to a vote would be a catastrophe for the country, but that other EU states had recognised Greece’s right to hold a referendum on the issue.
Although that right was recognised by other EU leaders, Papandreou’s calls for a referendum on Monday sparked emergency talks between Sarkozy and Merkel and caused global stock markets to drop slightly. Markets later picked up on speculation that Greece would drop the referendum.
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