Greek Government on the Brink of Collapse

November 01, 2011 from Al Jazeera English

Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou announced that he would be holding a referendum on the bail-out package -- a surprise to his own party, his people, and to all of Europe. Rumors and questions as to why Papandreou made the surprise move are rife, but the minister is keeping his counsel for now. With concern that the referendum would be unlikely to take place before January, creating months of uncertainty for the markets, the mood in Athens is one of cynicism and despair. Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports from Athens.

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Greece

Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. According to the 2011 census, Greece's population is around 11 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, its urban area also including Piraeus. Greece is strategically located at the cr... Explore this topic

European sovereign debt crisis

The European sovereign debt crisis is an ongoing financial crisis that has made it difficult or impossible for some countries in the euro area to repay or re-finance their government debt without the assistance of third parties. In 1992, members of the European Union signed th... Explore this topic

George Papandreou

Georgios A. Papandreou, commonly anglicised to George and shortened to Γιώργος in Greek, is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece following his party's victory in the 2009 legislative election. Belonging to a political dynasty of long standing, he previousl... Explore this topic

Bailout

A bailout is a colloquial pejorative term for giving a loan to a company or country which faces serious financial difficulty or bankruptcy. It may also be used to allow a failing entity to fail gracefully without spreading contagion. The term is maritime in origin being the ac... Explore this topic

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal, usually a piece of legislation which has been passed into law by the local legislative body and was signed by the pertinent executive official. This may resul... Explore this topic

Politics of Greece

The Politics of Greece takes place in a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Hellenic Parliament. Between the re... Explore this topic

2010-2012 Greek Protests

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Default

In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract, e.g. has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan covenant of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may occur if the ... Explore this topic

Anti-austerity protests

Anti-austerity protests, chiefly taking the form of massive street protests by those affected by them and some of them also involving a greater or lesser degree of militancy, have happened regularly across various countries, especially on the European continent, since the onse... Explore this topic

Economy of Greece

The economy of Greece is the 32nd or 37th largest in the world at $312 or $309 billion by nominal gross domestic product or purchasing power parity respectively, according to World Bank statistics for the fiscal year 2009–2010. Additionally, Greece is the 15th largest economy ... Explore this topic

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