Greece opposition leader set for talks on coalition bid
Antonis Samaras has repeated his insistence on fresh elections
Greece's main opposition leader is to meet the president on Sunday as the country remains in political deadlock over its debt crisis.
Antonis Samaras of the New Democracy party is refusing to take part in a government of national unity proposed by beleaguered PM George Papandreou.
He has labelled the PM "dangerous" for Greece and wants immediate elections.
But Mr Papandreou says elections must wait until a vital EU bailout package has been approved.
Two opinion polls published on Saturday suggested that Greeks would prefer the option of a national unity government to snap elections, Reuters news agency reported.
'Dangerous'
Mr Papandreou met President Karolos Papoulias on Saturday, hours after narrowly surviving a confidence vote in parliament.
President Papoulias urged the opposing sides to overcome their differences and work together to resolve a crisis that has jeopardised the entire euro project.
"Consensus is the one and only way," Mr Papoulias told the prime minister.
However, Mr Papandreou and Mr Samaras have offered radically different plans on how to tackle the crisis.
Mr Samaras said: "We ask for a short-term transitional government in order to restore a sense of stability and then the country goes to the polls."
He also called Mr Papandreou "dangerous" for the country and called on him to resign.
The prime minister said on elections would "have catastrophic consequences for the economy and for the Greek people".
Mr Papandreou said these were "critical times". Without the bailout funds, Greece may go bankrupt before the end of the year and could be forced out of the euro altogether.
After meeting the president, Mr Papandreou said he had told him of his "intention to contribute decisively to the creation of a government of the widest possible consensus".
Default risk
There has been speculation that a new governing coalition could be led by Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, after Mr Papandreou hinted that he would stand aside as PM if it would make progress easier.
Continue reading the main storyWhat went wrong in Greece?
- Greece's economic reforms, which led to it abandoning the drachma as its currency in favour of the euro in 2002, made it easier for the country to borrow money.
Greece's mounting debt crisis and the implementation of austerity measures have proved hugely unpopular with the public, prompting widespread protests and strikes.
But if Greece defaults on its debts, the cost of borrowing would rocket for other countries, potentially leading to a new banking crisis.
On Monday, Mr Papandreou shocked EU partners and sent markets into turmoil by calling for a national referendum on the deal which they thought had been secured.
The vote was called off just days later, but only after triggering the wider financial and political crisis.
Attention has also been focusing on Italy's huge debt burden, with fears that it could face its own crisis.
On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it could take a decade for Europe to resolve its debt crisis and that this could only be done by countries placing legal limits on their debts.
"Everyone in Europe must make an effort to achieve all that is required," she said in comments posted on her website.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso acknowledged it was possible that Greece could end up leaving the eurozone, but said it was "in their interests" to stay.
"I think the principle of a country leaving the euro is not a good one. But at the end, it depends on them being able to implement the decisions taken together," he said.
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