ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s new technocrat prime minister, Lucas Papademos, assumed power Friday at the helm of an interim coalition government that will seek to push through tough economic reforms and ensure the country avoids a catastrophic default.
Papademos, a former European Central Bank vice president, leads a government that includes ministers from three parties.
The bitter rivalry of outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou’s Socialists and the conservatives of Antonis Samaras is being set aside as Greece’s politicians struggle to put the country back on track financially and ensure it can retain its cherished position in the eurozone.
“The new cooperation government will do the best it can to address the country’s problems, and I believe that with the cooperation of all — and the new government stresses this — and the unity of all, we will achieve that,” Papademos told Papandreou during the handover of the premiership.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos retained his post, and the conservatives got the key positions of foreign affairs and defense, while ministerial positions also went to members of a small right-wing party with nationalist leanings.
Papademos — who was appointed Thursday after two weeks of political turmoil that infuriated European leaders, horrified Greeks and led to mayhem on international markets — must now ensure his government passes Greece’s latest debt deal: a $177 billion agreement reached by the European Union on Oct. 27.
Greece’s new interim government was welcomed by the leaders of Germany and France — Europe’s two largest economies — and the head of the eurozone.
