The European Union turned up the heat on bickering Greek politicians on Sunday to agree a crisis coalition, demanding progress toward backing an international bailout deal in the next 24 hours.
In a sign that Greece's political deadlock may be easing under EU pressure, a senior socialist said Prime Minister George Papandreou had made clear he would resign once a coalition deal was done, possibly as soon as Sunday night.
With euro zone finance ministers due to meet on Monday, senior socialist lawmaker Telemachos Hitiris said: "Everything must be done within the day, otherwise tomorrow it will be hell."
Earlier, the conservative opposition offered to cooperate in forming a national unity government that would push the euro zone bailout through parliament provided Papandreou stood aside after two years at the helm as Greece slid toward bankruptcy.
European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn demanded a Greek unity government to restore confidence, which has been shaken by doubts that Athens would commit itself to the 130 billion euro bailout package. Rehn wanted progress by the time euro zone finance ministers including Greek Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos meet on Monday night.
"We have called for a national unity government and remain persuaded that it is the convincing way of restoring confidence and meeting the commitments," he told Reuters.
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"We need a convincing report on this by Finance Minister Venizelos tomorrow in the Eurogroup."
Greece had breached confidence with its euro zone partners last week and put itself on a path toward leaving the common currency, Rehn said in a telephone interview.
Papandreou provoked uproar on Monday by announcing a referendum on the bailout, which demanded more austerity to be imposed on the Greek population.