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Efforts by the Greek prime minister to form a short-term coalition government and save his country from potential bankruptcy appear to have hit a political snag, with the opposition calling for George Papandreou to leave power.

Papandreou won an early morning confidence vote in parliament by a slim 153-145 vote after promising to dissolve his own government and perhaps clear the way for a new prime minister.

He was forced into the vote by his own Socialist party after he abandoned a proposal to hold a referendum on a European bailout.

Later in the morning, he met President Karolos Papoulias to discuss a possible coalition. However, that idea was snubbed hours later by opposition leader Antonis Samaras.

"We have not asked for any place in his government. All we want is for Mr. Papandreou to resign, because he has become dangerous for the country," Samaras said in a televised address. "We insisted on immediate elections."

Samaras was scheduled to meet with the president Sunday at 1:00 p.m. local time as the political wrangling continues.

The European Union would like to see the Greek Parliament approve the latest debt deal as soon as possible, to minimize the chances that the country might default on its debt payments.

Greece's creditors have warned that they would withhold their next multi-billion-euro loan installment until the debt deal is approved by the Greek government.

Saddled with overwhelming debt, Greece is barely surviving on a 110-billion euro ($150 billion) rescue-loan program from the other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

A second mammoth deal is also in the works, which would provide an additional 130 billion euros ($179 billion) in loans and bank support, with banks agreeing to cancel 50 per cent of their Greek debt.

Reporting from Athens, CTV's Tom Kennedy said it is almost impossible to predict what will happen next.

"It's an ongoing tense, dramatic situation," Kennedy told Â鶹ӰÊÓ Channel. "It's changing almost hour by hour."

He also said that without support from its eurozone partners, Greece faces almost certain bankruptcy, perhaps as early as the end of November.

Socialist party officials insisted any new government would need until late February to secure the second deal, warning that a snap poll could scuttle it. They insisted Saturday that Papandreou's offer to step aside was sincere, and had called on conservative leader Samaras to urgently reconsider his party's position.

"If Mr. Samaras were willing to back a new government, the prime minister would resign today," Yiannis Magriotis, a deputy public works minister, told private Skai television.

During his speech to parliament Friday night, Papandreou said a coalition government's mandate would be to secure the new debt deal. "I'm even willing to discuss who will lead that government," he said.

Papandreou's idea to hold a referendum on the debt agreement was swiftly scrapped on Thursday after an angry response from the market and European leaders.

Opposition leaders had called for Papandreou's resignation and quick elections, and the biggest opposition party boycotted the confidence vote, but the prime minister argued that an interim government is necessary to shepherd Greece through the first steps of the financial rescue.

But economists warn that until the markets see solid evidence of progress in Greece and Italy for structural reform, the whole euro zone will remain under pressure.

With files from Tom Kennedy in Athens and The Associated Press