New Greek PM named
Posted Nov 10, 2011 6:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Senior banker Lucas Papademos was named Thursday as the prime minister of the new Greek interim government, charged with keeping the debt-strapped country out of bankruptcy and firmly in the 17-nation eurozone.
After four days of intense political negotiations, the 64-year-old former vice-president of the European Central Bank was chosen to lead a coalition backed by both the governing Socialists and opposition conservatives that will operate until early elections in February.
He replaces outgoing Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou midway through his four-year term.
A statement from the president’s office said Papademos would form an interim government that will secure and implement the decisions of a C130 billion ($177 billion) European debt deal agreed upon during a summit in Brussels on Oct. 27.
The new cabinet will be sworn in Friday afternoon.
His selection came on the fourth day of tortuous power-sharing talks between Greece’s main political parties.
