ATHENS: For five tormented days, Greece's search for a prime minister swung between comedy and tragedy, back-office deals struck then abandoned, names floated then denied, screaming in corridors, all while the country drifted towards economic disaster.
"If I was a foreigner watching it, I would say let them all go to hell," one socialist deputy was overheard telling a colleague at the parliament coffee shop.
"It's the theatre of the absurd." Former central banker Lucas Papademos emerged from the pandemonium on Wednesday night as prime minister, finally to be confirmed in the morning, to the palpable relief of millions. Entrusted with salvaging Greece's place in the euro zone and tackling its spiralling debt, he may be the envy of few.
Papademos's name had been mooted at the start of the hunt for the head of a coalition government. Prime Minister George Papandreou pressed talks over the telephone with Papademos who was in Boston. On Monday night he flew back to Athens, a source with knowledge of his movements said.
"On Tuesday morning he thought he had a deal," the source said. "But by Tuesday afternoon it appeared it fell through and he didn't know why. Communication with the prime minister's office stopped."
Over at the headquarters of the opposition New Democracy Party, passions had been inflamed by news their leader Antonis Samaras had given in to pressure from the EU to make a pact with Papandreou's socialists. They demanded assurances he would not back the conditions Papademos was setting.
Reporters who called New Democracy officials at the modern headquarters on Sygrou avenue could hear screaming in the background -- angry members decrying any deal.
Acrimony and emotion may only have been deeper for the fact that many key players had known each other for so long. Papandreou and Samaras, for instance, were college room mates. "Papademos wanted to be in control, not a figurehead," the source said.
He said Papademos wanted Samaras to commit himself explicitly by signing a series of policies agreed with the European Union in return for its bailout. Samaras was livid and issued a statement saying: "It's a matter of national dignity. I don't allow anyone to doubt my statements." The world watched and waited.
With Samaras refusing to put his signatures on anything but what he agreed in the initial deal -- a short-lived, caretaker government to pass specific bills and take the country to elections as soon as possible Papandreou dropped Papademos and scrambled to find an alternative.
The trawling began. Names floated in the media ranged from judges to former politicians and even the European ombudsman, who told Reuters he had an exploratory call on Sunday and nothing since.
Financial markets slumped on Greece's chaotic and opaque political manoeuvring. Italy edged into crisis in its train.
In the official information vacuum, MPs appeared anxious and frantic, buying drinks for journalists at the parliament coffee shop for a titbit of news.
The halls of parliament are relatively empty even on days of big votes. This week they were heaving with activity, full of lawmakers pacing the corridors instead of hiding in their lounges.
When new names were leaked, such as that of former house speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis and incumbent Philippos Petsalnikos, one socialist deputy made the sign of the cross across her chest in shock.
"You need a psychic to figure out who will be the prime minister," New Democracy deputy Gerasimos Giakoumatos exclaimed.
Some socialist deputies seethed at reports that Petsalnikos, a close Papandreou ally with no obvious qualification to master the crisis, was the most probable option. They had given Papandreou their support in exchange for his stepping down and not for getting his crony instead.Then came Wednesday night.
With the nation expecting a final declaration on who was to lead it, Papandreou appeared on television to announce a deal had been done with the opposition and he was resigning.
The one important detail the name of the new prime minister he failed to mention. The opposition discerned a hint it would be Petsalnikos, a name acceptable to them.
The broadcast over, Papandreou walked across the street to the presidential mansion to meet the president and political leaders and hand in his resignation.
Things began to unravel again. The far-right LAOS leader George Karatzaferis stormed out of the mansion, angry that he had been left waiting in an ante-chamber and furious with the news Papademos was out.
The news that emerged in the coming hours confounded almost everyone. Petsalnikos was out and Papademos was Papandreou's leading candidate once again.
Asked what happened after Papandreou's farewell address to the nation, in the short time it took him to cross the street to the presidential mansion, sources said it was still unceReuters
One government official suggested that when he settled on the house speaker, he may have been unaware of the rebellion brewing in his own party, PASOK.
As he was arguing ministerial posts with Samaras, about 50 socialist deputies threatened to walk out, bringing the government down and prompting immediate elections unless a "strong personality" was chosen as premier.
In a hand written letter circulated among MPs, they warned: "If this does not happen, by the morning of November 10, we will submit our resignations," said the letter published by Greek media. "It is a matter of personal and political dignity."
November 10 came and Papademos was finally appointed, the political damage already long done.
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