ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos will ask President Carolos Papoulias to call early elections on May 6, ending his debt-saving temporary mandate, state media reported on Wednesday.
"These challenges constitute a national issue that the new government must handle. I recommend that a proposal be made to the president to dissolve parliament and hold elections on May 6," Papademos told the cabinet according to state television NET.
The 64-year-old economist would shortly tender his resignation to Papoulias, who will then dissolve parliament and call for elections within 30 days, a government source said.
Papademos, a former European Central Bank vice president appointed as caretaker prime minister five months ago to complete a debt-saving deal for Greece, told ministers that a new economic plan must be submitted for 2013-2016, and the country must pursue structural reforms to restore growth and keep its place in the eurozone.
Papademos is expected to stay on to supervise the electoral process, along with most of his key ministers.
Papademos took over in November as head of a coalition backed by the conservative New Democracy party and the socialist Pasok party to complete a bond swap with private creditors and ratify a eurozone bailout worth 130 billion euros ($171 billion).
The bailout was ratified by the Greek parliament last month and Athens has already arranged to exchange around a third of its near and midterm debt which now exceeds 350 billion euros.
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