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Former Prime Minister George Papandreou told an audience of European socialists that he took the contentious decision to call a referendum on Greece’s bailout package in a bid to “redistribute power.” Speaking at a Party of European Socialists convention in Brussels, Papandreou said he wanted to give Greeks a say in the changes taking place as a result of the bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. “I called for a referendum to redistribute power, to give power to the people, to voice their will to go beyond vested interests of conservative establishments. We are making deep changes in an establishment that does not want to change, so I wanted the people of Greece to decide… and to make all parties, especially the conservatives, accountable beyond populism and rhetoric,” he said. Admitting that he feels “freer” to speak openly now that he is not premier, Papandreou said Europe’s center-right parties had been responsible for exacerbating the crisis. “Europe would not be in this crisis if we had socialist or social democratic, progressive governments.” Papandreou also said that harsh austerity programs being carried out in Greece and other countries would not be enough to resolve the crisis. “We socialists know we must be fiscally responsible,” he said. “If every EU state just cut their budget and there was no stimulus at all... we would just spiral into recession.” Meanwhile, two of the likely challengers to Papandreou’s PASOK presidency, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Health Minister Andreas Loverdos, met on Friday in what was seen as an attempt to agree on a truce among all the possible candidates, with a view to a contest being held after December 15. | 
