Greece's conservative-communist coalition government resigned Saturday, after ordering former prime minister Andreas Papandreou and five other former Socialist ministers to stand trial on corruption charges.
"I have submitted the resignation of my government," Prime Minister Tzannis Tzannetakis said. "We have fulfilled the tasks which we pledged ourselves to accomplish."The unprecedented right-left coalition joined forces in July with the sole aim of lifting immunity from prosecution for former Socialist ministers suspected of wrongdoing in a series of scandals and sending them for trial on corruption charges.
Tzannetakis, who will act as caretaker prime minister until a new government is sworn in, said he expected elections on Nov. 5. He spoke to reporters after handing his formal resignation to President Christos Sartzetakis.
Papandreou, 70, in power from 1981 until a crushing June election defeat, was among those ordered to stand trial by the coalition-controlled parliament.
Papandreou is accused in a $200 million bank embezzlement scandal and of illegally ordering wiretaps on the telephones of political foes, reporters and even his own friends, but he will still lead the Socialists in the next election.
Under the constitution Sartzetakis must offer each leader of the three main parties a chance to form a government before calling the election.
The conservative New Democracy party, with 145 seats in the 300-seat parliament, and its coalition partner, a communist-led alliance with 28 seats, said they would reject any request to try to form a government and would insist on elections.
Papandreou has indicated he will use his three-day period, expected to start Saturday evening, to try to woo the Communists into a left-wing coalition government.
But Communist Party leader Harilaos Florakis again rejected doing a deal with Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement and said elections must be held in November.