Papandreou stands down as Greece gets new government

AFTER 10 turbulent days in the glare of the global media spotlight, George Papandreou has stepped down as Prime Minister of Greece. The leader of the country's socialist Pasok party agreed last night to resign as political leaders met to form a national unity government.

The architect of his downfall was Antonis Samaras, leader of the New Democracy party, who refused to enter negotiations over a new coalition government until Papandreou was out of the picture.

Papandreou thrust himself centre stage and caused chaos in the world's financial markets after announcing that he was calling a referendum so the Greek people could vote on an EU rescue package, designed to save the Greek economy.

On Thursday, after coming under intense pressure from politicians at home and abroad, he withdrew the plan. He then scraped through a vote of no confidence, but has now agreed to stand aside.

The leader of the new administration will be announced today, as EU finance ministers meet to discuss ways of boosting the European bailout fund. Earlier the EU had given Greece just 24 hours to form a new government that could implement the Brussels bailout agreement.

BBC correspondent Mark Lowen says Papandreou and his rivals "have played a high-stakes game of political brinkmanship in the last few days," adding: "This was the final act in a week of political turmoil."

But there was one last twist, according to MSNBC. It has emerged that the two main characters in the drama, Papandreou and Samaras, were once room-mates at Amherst College in Massachusetts, and would joke about toppling their country's military junta and running the country themselves. ·