Greece’s Parliament passed austerity measures needed to secure a fresh bailout, but a rebellion within the ruling Syriza party is testing whether Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras can hold his government together as he seeks to complete the deal.More.
The measures, which include steep spending cuts and tax increases, were approved early Thursday by 229 lawmakers in the country’s 300-seat Parliament, many of them opposition lawmakers. Among the 149 lawmakers in Mr. Tsipras’s left-wing Syriza party, 32 voted against the deal—including former finance chief Yanis Varoufakis—and six abstained.
To counter the rebellion within his party, the Greek premier is expected to announce a cabinet shake-up on Thursday, according to government officials. But it remains uncertain how long Mr. Tsipras can continue in office without calling new elections.
The vote “is a serious division in Syriza’s parliamentary group,” said a government spokesman. “The basic priority of the prime minister and the government is the successful completion of the agreement in the coming period.”
The vote came hours after the European Commission proposed a fix to Mr. Tsipras’s other immediate challenge: how to pay a €4.2 billion ($4.6 billion) payment due to the European Central Bank on Monday. To cover that and Greece’s other most pressing bills, the commission called for giving Athens a €7 billion bridge loan from a European Union bailout fund.
In Athens, Mr. Tsipras is expected to replace several ministers—including three who voted against the austerity measures—with people more likely to help him implement the measures required as part of the rescue agreement, officials say.
The Greek premier could also expel lawmakers who vote against the government. That would leave them with a choice of resigning their seat, in line with Syriza’s code of conduct, or carrying on as independents. The former outcome would allow Mr. Tsipras to replace them, while the latter scenario would weaken his power.
Shortly before the vote, he appealed for unity in support of the austerity measures being put to a vote. Parliamentary approval of the austerity measures was a prerequisite demanded in exchange for as much as €86 billion in bailout loans over the next three years from the eurozone and International Monetary Fund.
“I don’t believe the measures will benefit the economy, but we are forced to adopt them,” Mr. Tsipras told lawmakers.
The premier also referred to comments made by IMF chief Christine Lagarde, who on Wednesday urged the eurozone to provide Greece with debt relief. “This is a positive outcome and the only hope of getting out of the crisis,” he said.
Fresh cracks in Mr. Tsipras’s government appeared on Wednesday before the vote, with the resignation of deputy finance minister Nantia Valavani over the bailout, though she last week backed Mr. Tsipras’s decision to seek the new rescue agreement.
“It is one thing to face an exceptionally difficult reality and catastrophe with hope and a future of dignity and independence,” she said in a letter sent to the Greek premier. “It is another issue to handle a catastrophe that will be completed with whatever national income is left heading abroad for the repayment of debt that cannot be repaid in centuries.”
Ahead of the vote, about 13,000 took to the streets to protest against the new bailout, while public sector workers walked off their jobs in a 24-hour strike.
Later on Wednesday, a small group of demonstrators clashed with police, throwing Molotov cocktails. More than 30 protesters were detained, according to police officials.
Nobody knows how long the 40-year-old prime minister can maintain the backing of his own Syriza party, and its right-wing coalition partner Independent Greeks. Completing the bailout agreement is likely to take several weeks. Selling the tough austerity policies attached to it has been Mr. Tsipras’s biggest political test at home since he swept to victory in an election in January on an antiausterity ticket.
The rebellion threatens to leave Mr. Tsipras’s coalition short of a majority in the Parliament. Some Syriza lawmakers have spoken of “threatening” developments for their party if it reneged on its key electoral promise of opposing austerity. Others said they recognized the urgency of Greece’s financial situation as the country faces bankruptcy and a probable exit from the eurozone unless it complete the steps needed to clinch rescue financing...
Also at Euronews, "Greek parliament approves tough reforms demanded by Brussels," and "Greek PM relies on opposition support to pass reforms."
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