Papandreou resigned, No New Prime Minister

George Papandreou has met with President of Greece Karolos Papoulias and submitted his resignation, followed by a second meeting between Papoulias, Papandreou and opposition leader Antonis Samaras last night - but no new Prime Minister was appointed.

There were reports that the favourite to become the next Prime Minister was Philippos Petsalnikos, the speaker of the Greek parliament, but the many objections to his bid by political parties may have possibly forced them to withdraw his name from the table.

A new meeting has being scheduled for November 10th at 10 in the morning and more discussions have begun with Loukas Papademou and other candidates.

A statement by Nea Demokratia, Antonis Samaras’s party, stated that they urge the PASOK party to nominate and approve a candidate by themselves very soon, since they still control the majority in the parliament.

Earlier today, Prime Minister George Papandreou was expected to meet President Karolos Papoulias at noon and put forward Dr. Vasilis Skouris as the new prime minister, said sources in Greece.

Papandreou was also expected to submit his government’s resignation to the president. There has been much speculation over the new PM's name, yesterday it was reported that Lucas Papademos would be put forward.

Another likely candidate proposed by Papandreou and the opposition leader Antonis Samaras is Dr. Vassilis Skouris, the president of  the Court of Justice of the European Communities, according to PASOK MP Telemachos Chitiris.

Whoever the new prime minister is, he is expected to lead a unity government with a specific agenda, namely to see through the new debt deal worked out in Brussels on Oct. 26. and call for elections on the 19th of February, 2012. 

Loucas Papademou's bid for the position was abandoned due to demands he put forth for a longer stay in power, for appointing his own cabinet members and make his own decisions on how to handle the debt crisis.

This is not the first time Dr Skouris would serve in a caretaker government in Greece, since he served as the Minister of the Interior briefly following the dissolution of the Greek parliament in  1989. He was appointed at the same post in 1996 by Prime Minister Konstantinos Simitis.

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