Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing an uprising from members of his own Syriza party over the austerity plans, with about 30 of the 162 Syriza lawmakers in the 300-member parliament voicing objections. The tax hikes and spending cuts were required by lenders as a precondition for opening talks on a new multi-year bailout package worth up to €86 billion ($94 billion).
Advertisement
The protest was timed to coincide with the start of debate on the bill, which includes consumer tax increases and pension reforms that will condemn Greeks to years of more economic hardship.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras said he did not believe in the deal, but agreed as to “avoid disaster for the country” and the collapse of its banks.
The Greek prime minister is now relying on the support of pro-European opposition parties to pass the vote.
The result of the vote was seen as a positive step by European officials, who pointed to the strong majority of lawmakers backing the hard measures. Speaker Zoe Constantopoulou and former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis opposed the bailout.
“I don’t know if we did the right thing”.
The worldwide Monetary Fund’s repeated proclamations that the Greek debt is unsustainable suggest it might not be party to the arrangement, while Germany views IMF participation as essential.
It was the first of several draconian austerity bills demanded by Greece’s creditors as a condition for a third financial rescue of the heavily indebted nation, Efe news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Nadia Valavani, Greece’s deputy finance minister in charge of taxation and privatizations, resigned saying, “It is impossible to continue being a member of the government”.
Even if Athens carries out austerity programme it still won’t be able to pay back billions of Euros.
Greece owes its creditors about $330 billion, according to the Times, an amount that has been estimated to be 177 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Before the austerity vote, some 12,000 demonstrators had gathered outside parliament in the biggest protest against the government since Tsipras won elections in late January.
There were some violent scenes, with petrol bombs thrown at riot police, and tear gas fired in return.
Negotiations on the new bailout will take an estimated four weeks, leaving European finance ministers scrambling to find ways to get Athens some money sooner.
Advertisement
The European Central Bank will also hold a meeting of its governing council, possibly with a view to extending financial support to Greek banks, which have remained closed for the last ten days.
