Greece Appoints New Prime Minister
After four days of discussions, Greece appointed senior banker Lucas Papademos as prime minister to head their interim government.
Papademos will replace former Prime Minister George Papandreou in the middle of his four-year term.
The interim governmemt, which will operate until early elections tentatively set for February, hopes to avert a national bankruptcy while ensuring a European debt deal that would allow banks to forgive 50 percent of the Greek debt and ensure the country receives €130 billion in bailouts.
Papademos, 64, is the former vice president of the European Central Bank. Although he is not affiliated with any party, he did serve as an advisor for the former prime minister.
His appointment comes after Papandreou agreed to resign and form a transitional government, after weeks of political turmoil over the European bailout deal.
The new Greek cabinet will be sworn in on Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
