ATHENS – Greek prime minister George Papandreou has invited political party leaders to meet today in a bid to reach consensus on steps to exit a debt crisis that the IMF warned would likely take a decade to overcome.

EU policymakers have warned Greece must have broad political backing for debt-cutting measures to get the extra cash it needs to plug funding shortfalls, demanding the kind of consensus achieved in Ireland and Portugal.

“It is a meeting in search for consensus, even if it is practically almost impossible. I don’t think anyone expects that the parties’ stance will change now,” Costas Panagopoulos, head of ALCO pollsters, said yesterday.

Opposition parties have so far rejected the latest policies aimed at pulling Greece out of a severe debt crisis, saying the belt-tightening agreed in return for a €110 billion euro bailout last year stifles the economy.

Mr Papandreou asked the country’s president, Karolos Papoulias, to call in all party leaders, after individual meetings earlier this week failed to reach consensus.

“This has a dramatic tone as these meetings are very rare in Greece’s history,” Mr Panagopoulos said.

EU and IMF inspectors are examining new Greek measures before granting the next €12 billion tranche of the bailout. Without it, Greece cannot cover pressing funding needs of €13.4 billion and will go bust.

“The president’s office told us that the prime minister has asked for this meeting and that the finance minister and the foreign minister will also be present,” said a spokesman for the Left Coalition party, which was attending the meeting.

A spokesman for main opposition conservative New Democracy said its leader, Antonis Samaras, would attend the meeting, but in a speech on Wednesday Mr Samaras reiterated that he would not consent to the government’s policies. “We fully adopt the country’s fiscal consolidation targets. But we can’t support the way these targets were decided. We consent to the target, but not to the way,” Mr Samaras said. The communist KKE party, which often boycotts such events, and far-right LAOS party said their leaders would also attend.

Athens kick-started a stalled privatisation programme on Monday and promised tougher austerity measures and tax hikes to meet EU/IMF conditions for the release of a €12 billion loan tranche in June, vital to keep Greece from defaulting.

Workers at state firms slated for privatisation plan a 24-hour strike on June 15th to oppose their sale to investors. – (Reuters)