Greek PM stands down

  • 13 years ago
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has resigned after sealing a deal with the opposition to approve an international bailout.
Papandreou was born on June 16th 1952 in St Paul, Minnesota, and educated in Sweden, Canada, the U.S. and Britain.
He came to power in 2009 promising to help the poor and fight a "pandemic" of corruption.
Shortly after taking office, his government revealed that the budget deficit would be three times more than the previous government's estimates - an admission which triggered the Greek debt crisis.
A raft of austerity measures followed to meet the terms of EU and IMF bailout packages, prompting waves of national strikes and protests.
By May 2011, most Greeks felt Papandreou could not save them from an economic meltdown.
Papandreou sealed his fate last week with a disastrous attempt to call a referendum on the bailout.
Throughout his career, critics made fun of Papandreou's mild manner, his mistakes speaking Greek and his enthusiasm for riding a bicycle.
He also had to continually prove his mettle with a Panhellenic Socialist Movement party still nostalgic for the leadership of Papandreou's charismatic late father Andreas, who led the country from 1981 to 1989 and again from 1993 to 1996.
Nick Rowlands, Reuters

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