The financial crisis that brought down the leaders of both Greece and Italy is not finished with the nations yet. The two Mediterranean states must now focus on who will lead their new governments through the turmoil of their debt crises.
Greece at least has already met its first roadblock as its initial choice was rejected with both prominent political parties objecting to him.
In Italy, while Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi finally agreed to step down after losing a confidence vote, leaders wonder whether a change in government will be enough to stem the rising tide of interest rates on the country’s debt. Yields on 10-year bonds in the Italian government reached a record high of 7.4% on Wednesday morning.
Reuters reported Wednesday that former vice president of the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, had been considered the front-runner to replace outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou, but both Papandreou’s PASOK party and the opposition New Democracy party objected. In addition, Papademos ran into objections from Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, over concerns that Papademos would reconfigure the government’s economic team.