Greek PM steps down to make way for coalition gov't

"Greece will implement EU bailout decision, will do all it can to stay in the euro," Papandreou says in televised resignation; no new PM is named.

By REUTERS
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis)
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis)
Greek political leaders have agreed on a new government, outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou said on Wednesday, stepping down to make way for a new coalition government.
He did not say who would replace him.
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"I would like to wish every success to the new prime minister and of course the new government. I will stand by them and I will support them with all my strength," Papandreou said in an address to the nation.
Greece would implement an EU bailout decision and do all it can to stay in the euro, he added.
Sources from the two major parties said earlier on Wednesday that party leaders have agreed on house speaker Filippos Petsalnikos to head the country's new coalition government, barring any last-minute changes.
The aim is to establish a "100-day" government to push a 130 billion euro bailout plan, including a "voluntary" 50 percent writedown on Greece's debt to private sector bondholders, through parliament by February.
The socialist and conservative parties had wanted former ECB vice-president Lucas Papademos to lead a government of national unity but he appears to have made demands about his level of influence which they could not swallow.