ATHENS WAS awash with rumour and speculation yesterday as Greece’s two main political parties, socialist Pasok and conservative New Democracy, completed a second day of negotiations on the formation of a crisis coalition.
By late evening, the economist and former Greek and European central banker Lucas Papademos was still the most widely tipped to take the top cabinet post in the new administration, but no official confirmation was forthcoming.
Yet despite the almost universal acceptance that Mr Papademos will be the country’s next prime minister, reporters on state television claimed late in the race that the name of Apostolos Kaklamanis, a veteran Pasok minister and former speaker, had also been tabled for the top job.
The calling of an emergency cabinet meeting just after noon had given the Greek public – exhausted at the political crisis that began when Mr Papandreou called his ill-fated referendum on October 31st – some hope that they would learn the name of their new prime minister and cabinet sometime in the afternoon.
Those expectations were fuelled when New Democracy dropped one of its key conditions, that the new administration be comprised solely of unelected technocrats, opening the way for some of its MPs to take cabinet seats.
But the negotiations hit another sticking point when the opposition appeared to reject a demand from Greece’s European partners that the leaders of the parties involved in the new coalition sign a letter giving full support to the new debt and haircut deal before a badly needed sixth instalment of bailout money – worth €8 billion – could be paid out.
Briefing his ministerial colleagues on Monday’s Eurogroup meeting, finance minister Evangelos Venizelos added that the letter would also have to be signed by the incoming and outgoing prime ministers, the new finance minister and the central bank governor.
In a strongly worded statement, New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras argued he had already made his views on the agreement clear.
“There is national dignity. I have already and repeatedly explained why, in order to protect the Greek economy and the euro, the implementation of the October 26th decisions has become inevitable,” he said.
“I will not allow anyone to doubt my word,” he added.
Some of the country’s newspapers also took issue with the European condition that the country’s old and new leaders commit themselves to the bailout deal in writing.
“They’re demanding a statement of pro-memorandum convictions” was the headline in Eleftherotypia, referring to the disavowals of left-wing ideas that Greeks had to sign for much of the 20th century.
After spending almost two years relentlessly opposing Mr Papandreou’s approach, a wing within New Democracy fiercely opposes the coalition idea and Mr Samaras’s apparent U-turn on the 2010 memorandum and the Brussels debt deal.
One party insider said that matters had reached a “very crucial point” between those who wish to move the party in the direction of moderation and consensus and those who insist on demanding that a snap general election be held in December.
Commentators said it was too early to say whether Mr Samaras was grandstanding to the party hardliners or whether he was demonstrating some of the stubbornness that has characterised his political career.
In 1992, he was sacked as foreign minister over his hardline stance on the Macedonian naming issue.
For Greece’s main television stations, yesterday was the sixth day of almost dawn to dusk live coverage devoted to the unfolding crisis.
The media marathon began last Thursday when a number of Pasok MPs said they planned to vote against Mr Papandreou in a confidence vote, which he went on to win on Friday.