Greece Selects Prime Minister After Days of Wrangling

ATHENS — Lucas Papademos, a respected economist with an avuncular style, was named prime minister of Greece on Thursday. He will lead a unity government that has pledged to quickly approve the tough terms of a European aid package and save the country from bankruptcy. The choice of Mr. Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, came after four days of tense negotiations that put Greece’s feuding political parties on full display. A written statement issued by the office of President Karolos Papoulias was read on television in the afternoon confirming Mr. Papademos’s appointment and adding that the “chief role of the new interim administration will be the implementation of the decisions of the European Union summit of Oct. 26 and the policies that are connected to this.” Mr. Papademos made a brief appearance shortly after the announcement. He said Greece still faced dire problems. But he struck an optimistic note. “The course will not be easy,” he said. “But the problems, I’m convinced, will be solved. They will be solved faster, with a smaller cost and in an efficient way, if there is unity, agreement and prudence.” After months of domestic protests and building pressure from the European Union, Prime Minister George Papandreou agreed on Sunday to step down once a coalition government had been formed. But the talks dragged on, apparently hostage to political maneuvering by all sides. Mr. Papademos, however, is seen as outside the old-boy networks of Greek politics — a technocrat, perhaps able to take Greece on a new path. News reports earlier this week said that Mr. Papademos was insisting on several measures he believed were crucial to his success, including a minimum of at least six months at the helm. Earlier, Greece’s major political parties had agreed to new elections in just 100 days. The reports also said that he insisted that members of the opposition New Democratic Party play a significant role in the unity government, which will have to impose additional austerity measures almost immediately. The opposition, led by Antonis Samaras, had resisted, not wanting to be linked to deeply unpopular reforms. But standing outside the presidential palace, Mr. Papademos said he had not made any demands before accepting the job. He also said the new unity government would be “transitional,” and its priority would be to ensure that Greece stayed in the euro zone. “I am convinced that Greece’s continued participation in the euro zone is a guarantee for the country’s stability and future prosperity,” he said. He faces a difficult task. He will have to move swiftly to reassure the country’s major foreign lenders — the so called troika comprising the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — who were shocked when Mr. Papandreou decided without warning to submit the latest bailout package to a referendum, a move that eventually led to his demise. Mr. Papademos must also persuade the Greek Parliament to pass the new austerity measures, which include more layoffs of government workers, in a climate of growing social unrest. Mr. Papandreou went on national television on Wednesday evening to announce that a new interim government had been formed. But he did not name his successor, and in the hours that followed, it became clear that  political confusion had set in once more. Television provided glimpses of some of the drama. A furious Giorgos Karatzaferis, the leader of the small far-right party Laos, stormed out the presidential office building shortly after Mr. Papandreou’s speech. He told waiting reporters that he had been summoned to a meeting with Mr. Papandreou; the president; and Mr. Samaras, but found himself sitting in a hall alone. Apparently, the other men were too busy arguing to meet with him. Mr. Karatzaferis, one of the few politicians willing to risk the potential damage from supporting a new power-sharing government that must take on a host of unpopular tasks, said political games were being played. “This is unacceptable,” he huffed before leaving.