Greece's centre-right opposition¹ has demanded Prime Minister George Papandreou resign.

希腊中间偏右反对党要求总理乔治·怕潘德里欧辞职。

George Papandreou had been hoping to have the support of opposition MPs

Opposition leader Antonis Samaras also called for snap elections（提前选举，临时选举） before leading his MPs in a dramatic walkout of parliament.

Mr Papandreou's government faces a crucial confidence vote later.

He earlier said that opposition support could mean dropping controversial plans for a referendum on an EU bailout.

The developments in Athens have overshadowed（使阴暗） a meeting of the G20 leading economic nations in Cannes, which continues for a second day on Friday.

At the end of the first day, the French host, President Nicolas Sarkozy, said France and Germany had helped Greek politicians focus on what was at stake.

President Obama said the summit's main task was to resolve the eurozone crisis.

Summoned to Cannes

Mr Papandreou had faced a rebellion in his governing Socialist³ party (Pasok) over the proposed referendum, which sent markets into turmoil⁴（混乱，骚动） .

The BBC's Gavin Hewitt in Athens says Greece had seen 24 hours of political horse trading and power struggles.

Mr Papandreou's party holds a tiny majority in parliament - 152 out of 300 seats.

Last week's hard-fought EU deal to bail² out debt-ridden Greece was heralded⁵（通报） as a breakthrough.

But Mr Papandreou threw it into doubt by announcing on Monday that Greece would put the deal - which would mean crushing austerity measures - to a referendum.

He was summoned for urgent talks at the G20 summit on Wednesday where the leaders of France and Germany told him that any referendum would turn on the question of whether Greece wanted to stay in the eurozone.

They also put on hold the next tranche of Greece's existing bailout until after a vote was held.

With Greece's euro membership and its bailout lifeline in danger, Mr Papandreou returned to Athens under mounting pressure to resign.