Tsipras, who was elected in January on an anti-austerity platform, last week approved sweeping economic overhauls attached to the bailout at the cost of seeing his Syriza party split.
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Greece’s European creditors seemed to take the news, which was widely expected, in stride.
In fact, precisely because of his hardline credentials, it is the Finance Minister that will do most of the talking during the debate, making the case for the government’s proposal to agree on the Greek bailout agreement.
“It is crucial that Greece maintains its commitments to the eurozone“, Dijsselbloem said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters. “We need to know whether the government has or doesn’t have a majority”.
In Brussels, European Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt said the EU executive body was confident the bailout program would be adhered to.
After three weeks of negotiations in Athens, his government managed to secure a three-year package worth €86bn, even though some Eurozone member states felt such large amounts of aid would be politically sensitive.
Greece imposed capital controls and ordered banks to shut temporarily on June 29, after the European Central Bank had refused to increase emergency funding to the lenders following a breakdown of bailout talks between Athens and foreign creditors.
Under these, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos cannot immediately call an election if Tsipras resigns, but must first consult the other major parties to see if they could form a government – a remote likelihood with the current parliamentary arithmetic. The rejection of the bailout by those voting against it means the effective end of his governing majority, Energy Minister Panagiotis Skourletis said in an interview Thursday.
If both fail, Parliament will be dissolved and elections held within the next month.
In a televised speech late Thursday, Mr Tsipras said that he had resigned, along with the government, in a bid to seek a clear mandate that would help the country face upcoming difficulties.
But the deal came with strict terms for mroe belt-tightening.
However, he said, “the downside of new elections is that they will slow the implementation of measures”.
The government has been rumoured to be considering either early elections or calling a confidence vote since Tsipras faced a party rebellion over a bailout vote in parliament last week.
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The election will bring unwelcome levels of political uncertainty, and there has already been a detrimental impact on the Greek Stock Exchange.
