setUoYouRPROFILE's blog: "tufui"

ATHENS — Lucas Papademos, a respected economist and former vice president of the European Central Bank, was named Thursday to lead a new Greek unity government that has pledged to abide by the tough terms of a European aid package in the hopes of saving the country from bankruptcy. The announcement came after four days of often chaotic negotiations that put the feuding among Greece’s political parties on full display. Mr. Papademos, who has a low-key, avuncular manner,sacs louis vuittonemerged from the presidential office building shortly after the statement about his new post was released at midday and spoke briefly with reporters, striking 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.” Mr. Papademos has only a few weeks to persuade Greece’s creditors in the so-called troika — the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank — to release its next block of aid, $11 billion, before the country runs out of money. Then he must begin fulfilling the painful terms of an even larger loan. He will have to move swiftly to reassure the European leaders there will be no repeat of the shock they suffered in October, when the former prime minister, George A. Papandreou, after negotiating a new $177 billion loan, decided without warning to submit the bailout package to a referendum. The move infuriated the Europeans, who had concocted the Greek bailout as part of a painstakingly negotiated broader effort to stabilize the euro. It also started the clock on the end of Mr. Papandreou’s tenure. Mr. Papademos will have to deal with 2011 budget shortfalls and the passage of a 2012 budget that is expected to call for another round of austerity measures in a climate of growing social unrest. He will also have to start what are expected to be difficult negotiations with private sector banks that have agreed, in principle, to write off 50 percent of the face value of their Greek bond holdings as part of the rescue plan. As if to underscore the problems, the national statistics authority reported on Thursday that unemployment had jumped to a record high 18.4 percent in August, a month when the tourist season normally lowers the rate, from 16.5 percent in July. Mr. Papademos almost did not get the job. After Mr. Papandreou agreed on Sunday to step aside once a new coalition government had been formed, the parties could not seem to stop fighting long enough to settle on a candidate. With new elections expected early next year, all sides were maneuvering for strategic advantages. On Wednesday evening, Mr. Papandreou went on television to give his farewell speech as prime minister and was expected to announce a different successor.