Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is likely to call a confidence vote in his government after the country’s third bailout deal with global creditors sparked a rebellion within his party, one of his ministers indicated Monday.
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Energy Minister Panos Skourletis described such a parliamentary vote as “self-evident” following Friday s rebellion when nearly a third of Syriza deputies abstained or voted against the agreement.
PASOK made clear that whereas it had backed the federal government over bailout for the sake of saving Greece from monetary break, that help wouldn’t prolong to any confidence vote in the approaching weeks.
Last week Lafazanis – who was replaced as minister in a reshuffle last month after opposing the government in a previous bailout-related vote – and another 12 left-wing politicians announced they were creating a new anti-austerity movement, although Lafazanis stopped short of quitting the party.
Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroublis suggested that only another election could calm the climate at a time of economic crisis and show that the people would accept the onerous bailout program. “All the negative consequences for the country and its citizens bear the signatures of Mr Tsipras and Mr Kammenos”, the party said in a statement. Both voted against the government. “The bailout can not be a unifying basis for Syriza“, Stathis Leoutsakos, a lawmaker who joined the rebellion told Skai TV. “There is also an issue of democratic accountability“, he said.
In order to secure the bailout deal, Tsipras reneged on the promises that saw his radical left Syriza party win January elections. This has raised doubts about how much the opposition parties may want to force new elections.
The government has said it will take any decisions on handling the political situation as of August 20, when Greece faces a large debt repayment to the European Central Bank.
A government official said earlier on Sunday that until Greece had secured the new funding, it would focus exclusively on the technicalities which need to be wrapped up.
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