Greece risks meltdown after bailout vote bombshell

Greece risks meltdown after bailout vote bombshell
By Dina Kyriakidou and Lefteris Papadimas | Reuters – 22 minutes ag

ATHENS (Reuters) - The Greek government faced possible collapse on Tuesday as ruling party lawmakers demanded Prime Minister George Papandreou resign for throwing the nation's euro membership into jeopardy with a shock call for a referendum.

Caught unawares by his high-stakes gamble, the leaders of France and Germany summoned Papandreou to crisis talks in Cannes on Wednesday to push for a quick implementation of Greece's new bailout deal ahead of a summit of the G20 major world economies.

The euro and global stocks were pummeled on financial markets after the Greek move threw into question the survival of crucial efforts to contain the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.

Six senior members of Greece's ruling PASOK socialists, angered by his decision to call a plebiscite on the 130 billion euro rescue package agreed only last week, said Papandreou should make way for a "politically legitimate" administration.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/greek-referendum-threatens-euro-zone-crisis-021206836.html