Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos went before his countrymen in a nationally televised address to stress the importance of lawmakers approving a new international loan agreement on Sunday.

In his appearance, Papademos warned there were only two ways forward: the loan deal - to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debts - or chaos.

"This program will secure the conditions of safety (and) confidence and restore the competitiveness of our economy. It will see the country return to growth, probably in the second half of next year," he said in the message on Saturday.

"This agreement will decide the country's future," Papademos said, "we are just a breath away from ground zero."

"A disorderly default would set the country on a disastrous adventure. Living standards would collapse and it would lead sooner or later to an exit from the euro," he said, adding that failure to adopt the bill "would disrupt imports or fuel, medicine and machinery."

Antonis Samaras, leader of Greece's New Democracy party, chimed in with the pro-agreement rhetoric, telling party members to support the emergency legislation in a parliamentary vote on Sunday, adding that anyone who opposed the bailout "will not be a candidate in the next election." The New Democracy party, which backs the Papademos coalition, is the second biggest in parliament.

However, Samaras also said his party would ask for parliament to be dissolved once the debt-swapping deal with Greece's private creditors is completed, a move that would trigger a snap election. Elections are scheduled for October 2013.

After weeks of disagreement over the terms of a new bailout, the Greek cabinet approved the latest measures late Friday night. The legislation, which would introduce a new set of divisive austerity measures in a country already five years into a recession, would clear the way for the country's second rescue package since 2010.

Strike action

Meanwhile, Greek trade unions intensified their general strike on Saturday, hanging a huge anti-austerity banner on the Acropolis in Athens that read: "Down with the dictatorship of the monopoly of Europe." Public transport came to a standstill and hospitals were operating with emergency staff.

The two-day strike was launched Friday as more than 15,000 people took to the streets in violent protests over the new round of cuts. Demonstrations were expected to continue on Sunday.

The latest austerity measures include a 22 percent cut to the minimum wage, 15,000 layoffs in the public sector, pension cuts and belt-tightening in the health and defense sectors. The program is a requirement set by the troika of international lenders - the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Without the measures, Greece will not receive a second bailout worth 130 billion euros ($170 billion) needed to avoid state bankruptcy in March.

Eurozone finance ministers will meet Wednesday to decide whether Greece has met the conditions for this latest rescue package.

dfm/cmk/av/rc (AP, dpa, Reuters)