Greece scraps plan for bailout referendum
The Greek prime minister today dramatically scrapped plans for a referendum on the European rescue package amid mounting anger among fellow eurozone leaders.
Ignoring calls to step down, George Papandreou said he is seeking emergency talks with the opposition and warned that an early election would force Greece into leaving the euro currency.
Mr Papandreou made the comments in an emergency Cabinet meeting. His office released his speech to the ministers.
The Greek leader came under intense pressure after fellow cabinet ministers made clear they did not support the referendum plan amid international anger that it would delay the implementation of the rescue package thrashed out last week.
On the eve of today’s Group of 20 (G20) summit in Cannes, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Mr Papandreou for a swift resolution to the uncertainty.
Mr Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel had indicated that the next tranche of emergency loans would be withheld from Athens until after the poll, which was to have been held early next month.
US President Barack Obama insisted today that G20 leaders must use the next two days to flesh out plans to resolve the eurozone debt crisis.
“The most important aspect of our task over the next few days is to resolve the financial crisis here in Europe,” he said.
He acknowledged that the European Union had made “some important steps towards a comprehensive solution”, but added: “Here at the G20 we are going to have to flesh out more of the details about how the plan will be fully and decisively implemented.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron said today that Britain was ready to consider boosting its contribution to the International Monetary Fund’s lending facilities for countries in financial crisis.
