A Greek opposition leader has called on Prime Minister George Papandreou to resign and repeated a call for early elections, ahead of a confidence vote expected in parliament on Friday.

Antonis Samaras made the demand Thursday during a parliamentary meeting to vote on whether to accept a European Union bailout package that contains deeply unpopular spending cuts.

Mr. Papandreou said Thursday that calling early elections would be “catastrophic.” The prime minister also said Greece must implement the EU bailout plan.

Those developments came after Mr. Papandreou told his Cabinet earlier in the day that he will drop plans for a nationwide referendum on the plan.

Officials say Mr. Papandreou dropped his call for the referendum after the opposition reversed its position and said it would support the deal. The prime minister said if he had the opposition's backing on the deal, there was no need to hold a referendum.

European leaders have warned Greece that if it does not follow the terms of the bailout package, it will get no more EU funding. Mr. Papandreou has said that Greece's future in the eurozone is at stake.

Earlier Thursday, opposition leader Samaras called for the creation of a transition government to prepare for early elections, rather than allow Mr. Papandreou to hold the referendum. Lawmakers in Mr. Papandreou's own party had threatened to abandon his government over the controversial vote.

And Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos broke ranks Thursday with Mr. Papandreou over the referendum proposal, saying Greece's status in the eurozone should not be put to a popular vote.

On the street, some Greek citizens say they want the euro, but they fear future hardships.