Greek Finance Minister Venizelos To Lead Socialist Party

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos will take over as the head of his country's Socialist party.

The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or Pasok, is set to vote for a new leader to replace George Papandreou, who resigned as prime minister of Greece last November but has still been guiding the party.

Venizelos was the only candidate selected to run Pasok, which currently has a slight majority in Greece's single-chamber parliament with 153 of 300 seats. Regardless, party members will vote Sunday.

Our country is at a crucial juncture and as a result a very large number of Pasok officials have supported my candidacy, Venizelos said during a party conference.

The finance minister faces a considerable challenge in Greece. According to Greece's Ekathimerini newspaper, his party has lost significant favor among Greek voters -- current poll numbers have support for the Socialists at just 11 percent -- and Venizelos will have to do a lot of work for the Socialists before parliamentary elections in late April or early May.

I am fully conscious of the responsibility that I am taking on, Venizelos told the paper. But this responsibility is collective and we will act as a team.

I am fully aware of the opinion polls and I know in detail what Greeks are going through, he added.

But after the completion of the [private sector involvement] deal, a big window of opportunity has opened to win back some lost ground and to rebuild our pride, as citizens of Europe, not pariahs in the euro zone, the minister said, referring to a deal struck Friday with private holders of Greek-regulated bonds.

Venizelos has been at the forefront of Greece's financial crisis since he took the finance minister post in June. Since then, he has been in charge of pushing forth unpopular austerity measures in order to secure a €130 billion ($170 billion) bailout package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.