Greece's prime minister, Antonis Samaras, attempted late on Friday night to end the turmoil over his decision to close the country's public broadcaster – with a proposal to partially reinstate the company so it could resume transmissions "immediately".

The proposed closure of the Hellenic Broadcasting Company (ERT) has led to the conservative leader facing his worst political crisis since assuming power a year ago.

He announced the apparent climbdown in the hope it would stem the public protests that have once again put Athens in the eye of the storm.

"To find a solution to the issue … I propose that a temporary committee of broad parliamentary acceptance be appointed," he said in a statement.

The committee, he suggested, should be set up "with the express purpose of hiring a small number of [ERT] employees so that the broadcast of news programmes can begin immediately".

But instead of calming tensions, his offer inflamed them. Within hours, his two centre-left coalition partners rejected the offer, reinforcing speculation that they would walk out of the uneasy alliance now ruling Greece if ERT is not quickly reopened.

Dimitris Trimis, the head of the country's association of journalists, ESEA, described the compromise as being "totally insufficient".

He said: "It proves that he is under tremendous pressure but it falls far short of the demands of unions and ERT employees who have already experienced huge cutbacks.

"He still wants to go ahead with his plans to radically restructure the organisation."

Prior to his announcement, Samaras had come under immense pressure, both at home and abroad, to switch the state-run channel back on.

Describing ERT as a huge drain on the public purse, he had previously insisted the broadcaster, which employs 2,700, would not be reopened until it had been overhauled in line with the demands of Greece's "troika" of creditors – the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the EU,

Earlier on Friday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) had urged Samaras to reverse his decision after emergency talks in Athens.

"We ask the government to re-establish the signal on TV, radio and web," said the body's president Jean-Paul Philippot, noting it was the first time in the history of Europe that a country had elected to shut down its own broadcaster.

Across the continent officials have also expressed dismay at the move made when the broadcaster was transmitting live late on Tuesday.

Berlin, which has bankrolled most of the bailout funds propping up the debt-stricken Greek economy, is said to be outraged at the prospect of political crisis in Athens shattering the calm before Germans go to the polls in September.

With all sides digging in their heels, the spectre of elections had become a real possibility.

"No one, with the exception of [neo-Nazi and fast-growing] Golden Dawn, wants elections in this country," said political scientist Dimitris Kerides.

"It was absolutely expedient that Samaras found a way to back down without losing face."

Analysts did not rule out the compromise being used as a bargaining chip ahead of crucial talks between all three coalition leaders on Monday.

Samaras, addressing the youth wing of his own centre-right party on Friday, accused those who defended the broadcaster of being "hypocrites," likening ERT to a den of "sin … and scandals that our people will learn".

The public prosecutor's office had ordered an official probe into the widespread corruption and malpractice that had bedevilled the company, he said.