Greek officials will announce a new head of an interim government Tuesday, officials said, as the country's top parties continued to wrangle late into a day they had hoped would end under the stewardship of a new prime minister.
Illustrating the amount of work that likely lies ahead, names of more potential interim leaders emerged late Monday. International Monetary Fund director Panagiotis Roumeliotis, a former finance minister, was among the possible new leaders, said a Socialist party official.
Just a few hours earlier, officials from the ruling Socialists and its chief rival, the conservative New Democracy party, had said they had arrived upon a consensus pick for interim leader, former European Central Bank Vice President Lucas Papademos. But new roadblocks later appeared to his candidacy.
Mr. Roumeliotis was under consideration after talks with Mr. Papademos "do not seem to be going well," according to a Socialist official. The official added: "That does not mean that Papademos's candidacy has collapsed."
Mr. Roumeliotis, a friend of the family of departing Prime Minister George Papandreou, couldn't be reached to comment.
International markets and European officials are closely watching what Greek government emerges following a week of political turmoil in Athens that nearly toppled Mr. Papandreou's government and raised questions about Greece's future in the euro zone.
European Union finance ministers are expected to formally sign off on Greece's sixth bailout loan tranche at a meeting Tuesday, as long as a government is in place. Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said he had been told Greece would get the €8 billion tranche ($11 billion) after pledging the country's commitment, in writing, to its intentions to adhere to reforms decided by European leaders in late October.
In addition to implementing Greece's freshly minted €130 billion aid deal, the interim government will lead the country to new elections.
Mr. Papandreou agreed Sunday to step down in favor of a new prime minister who would lead the caretaker government.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked Mr. Papandreou on Monday "for his courage and decisiveness" in leading Greece throughout the financial crisis.
Ms. Merkel had expressed in a phone call her "respect for the decision" by Mr. Papandreou to step down, and said Greece's new government must be ready to implement reforms decided in Brussels in late October, spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
Talks to name the interim government, which leaders of the Socialist and New Democracy parties expressed optimism would be named Monday, appeared to snag as Mr. Papademos demanded that the new government should serve for a term of several months, longer than either party had envisioned, said a top official from the Socialist party, called Pasok.
The parties have agreed, in principle, to hold elections Feb. 19. But Mr. Papademos has said he would need longer than that to implement a planned bond-exchange program envisioned under the latest bailout deal.
Mr. Papademos has also demanded that Greece's caretaker administration be led by politicians, rather than technocrats.
New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras has refused to name any of his party's supporters to key ministries. The fear of Mr. Samaras—whose party is leading the Socialists in opinion polls and has called for immediate elections—is that putting these people in a cabinet charged with adopting harsh austerity measures could cost his party support in coming elections, said officials from New Democracy and Pasok.
"Samaras insists on a government of technocrats, but he is under pressure by Papandreou to fully participate with party heavyweights in the new government," said a Socialist official with knowledge of the talks. It wasn't clear late Monday how those issues would be addressed Tuesday. State TV station NET said the government would also name new cabinet ministers Tuesday.
Mr. Papademos has declined to commit until an agreement on the cabinet is reached, according to Socialist and New Democracy officials.
George Karatzaferis, leader of the small nationalist Laos party, said there was still no agreement on Mr. Papademos. "I was hoping that coming out of here I could say 'Habemus Papademos' but I can't say that yet," he said after a meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
Finance Minister Mr. Venizelos—who attended a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers in Brussels on Monday that was expected to discuss whether to release Greece's next aid payment—is expected to stay on.
"There has to be continuity on who the euro zone is talking to," said the Pasok party official. "We strongly feel that Venizelos should continue as finance minister."
Over a weekend fraught with fast-paced political developments, Mr. Venizelos was also considered to serve as interim prime minister, something that some Socialist party members still favor.
But other names are also being considered, including veteran diplomat Petros Molyviatis, who negotiated Greece's entry into the European Union, former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas and European Union Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamantouros are also said to be candidates.
Both Mr. Molyviatis and Mr. Dimas are members of New Democracy, with Mr. Dimas still serving as vice president of the party.
A Pasok official said Mr. Diamantouros was first mentioned by Mr. Papandreou when he met Mr. Samaras on Sunday and "his name is still on the table."
However, the official said Mr. Diamantouros's response so far has been cool.
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