[1] However, Prime Minister George Papandreou decided to cancel the referendum on 3 November,[2] if the opposition parties vote in favour of the EU deal.
[18][19] Following the announcement of the referendum on 31 October 2011, 1 November saw the resignation of one MP from the ruling party,[20] lowering Papandreou's government majority to 152 seats[20] in the 300-seat Hellenic Parliament.
[26] Following an emergency visit to Cannes for the 2011 G-20 Cannes summit, where Papandreou faced pressure to call off the referendum, New Democracy's spokesman Yiannis Michelakis said that "the comments made by Mr Papandreou, as well as those by [French President] Nicolas Sarkozy and [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel, revealed that he suggested to them that in Greece there is a supposed questioning of whether Greece should remain in the eurozone and the European Union.
Party chairperson Antonis Samaras also said that "the only problem that exists is Mr Papandreou remaining as prime minister,” said Michelakis.
U.S. President Barack Obama said that though the G20 summit in Cannes sought to alleviate European sovereign debt concerns the "actions of Papandreou and the referendum issue got a lot of people nervous" and the EU proposal was "still the best recipe."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the cancellation was a good decision amidst possible eurozone impatience with Greece.
"[30] During discussions for a vote of confidence held on 4 November 2011, Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek Minister of Finance, expressed his view that the decision on whether or not Greece should remain in the Eurozone is not something that should not be put to a referendum,[31] and called for a government of national unity.
Dimitris Lintzeris, a PASOK MP, said that "Papandreou is past"[34] and that "he continues to act carelessly and turns his failure into a coercive [referendum]".
[34] Amid concerns that Greece could leave the eurozone dependent on the referendum result, Papandreou faced a vote of confidence in parliament on 4 November.
[37] Following the vote of confidence, Papandreou met President Karolos Papoulias the next day to begin talks on forming a new coalition government.
"[39] Though Samaras continued to demand a new election in saying that was the only option for "stabilisation of the country, to restore its image, and to emerge sooner from this nightmare,"[36] he also added that an interim coalition government was a good idea in order to pass the bailout bill.
Papandreou also hoped that a new government would be formed by 7 November, before eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the next scheduled bailout fund for Greece.
LAOS also added that Samaras should reconsider his position as forming a coalition government has been "achieved with the departure of Papandreou from power.
"[39] Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos added that an interim administration would serve until the end of February, after which a new election would be called following the passage of the 8-billion-euro loan tranche.
Papoulias said that "an agreement was reached to form a new government to immediately lead the country to elections after ratifying the decisions taken by the European Council.
Samaras blamed PASOK for the delay saying that the constitution demanded that the ruling party had the prerogative to name a candidate for prime minister.