Papandreou wins confidence vote

ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Prime Minister George Papandreou won a vote of confidence in the Greek Parliament, and then said he would seek to assemble a coalition government.

"Tomorrow, I will go see the president and inform him that I am willing to hold talks with other parties in order to form a coalition government," Papandreou said late Friday during an address to Parliament, CNN reported.

He urged elections not be held right away because that would provide further uncertainty around a bailout arrangement worked out last week among European leaders.

He characterized the rescue package as "a huge change, and perhaps the last one, to rebuild a country with new and strong foundations."

As Papandreou and his government faced a confidence vote, he indicated late Thursday he was willing to step down and allow an emergency government to be formed.

The prime minister -- who had called this week for a referendum on accepting the bailout -- said Thursday he never really intended to have a popular vote on the debt deal; he simply wanted opposition support, which he now has. He dropped his plan to hold a referendum on the bailout agreed to with the eurozone leaders last week after opposition leaders approved backing the deal and its attendant austerity measures.

In an address to his Panhellenic Socialist party's central committee Thursday, Papandreou also said he would be willing to step aside, even with a victory in the confidence vote, so others could form a unity government.

"I am not clinging to my seat," he told the committee.

The prospect of a referendum led to three days of political tumult that whipsawed world markets and drove European leaders Wednesday to demand Greece once and for all decide whether it wants to remain part of the European Union and its currency bloc, the eurozone.

"The question was never about the referendum but about whether or not we are prepared to approve the decisions on Oct. 26," he told the party committee, referring to the EU debt deal that includes banks agreeing to take a 50 percent loss on Greece's privately held debt. "What is at stake is our position in the EU," he said.

Greece must also deepen its austerity measures in return for $179 billion in international aid loans.