Greeks lauded the nomination of new prime minister, Lucas Papademos, and expressed hope his government could put the economy back on track and calm political turmoil that has threatened to force Athens out of the eurozone.
Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, faces serious challenges at the helm of a new unity government forged this week after a chaotic power struggle between Greece's two main political forces. He must also ease tension among political leaders whose wrangling ahead of a snap election scheduled for early next year roiled global markets and drew rebuke from the European Union.
Papademos concluded talks on Thursday with representatives from outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou's Socialist party and the opposition New Democracy led by Antonis Samaras, with no sign of an agreement on a cabinet list. He must pass an austere 2012 budget, sell off state-owned companies, tackle rampant tax evasion and start chipping away at a mountain of debt under a bailout agreed among eurozone leaders last month.
Papademos is expected to push for Greece to meet the commitments outlined under its bailout deal, which was expanded last month to include more cash and induce private creditors to take bigger losses of 50 per cent on their Greek bondholdings. Key to that task will be tackling a debt load which the European Commission estimates at 162 per cent of annual output this year.
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