The vote was carried by 229 Greek MPs in favour of reforms, which include tax rises and an increase to the retirement age, while 64 voted against and six abstained.
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced a revolt in his left-wing party and workers’ called for strikes ahead of a vote in Parliament.
Greek’s parliament on Thursday approved an omnibus draft bill ratifying the debt deal the government reached with creditors on Monday and the first round of reforms requested as prerequisites for the immediate release of global aid to avert imminent default and Grexit, media reports said.
Among the 38 Syriza rebels was former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who denounced the bailout deal as “a new Versailles Treaty”- the agreement that demanded unaffordable reparations from Germany after its defeat in World War One.
Thousands marched through central Athens in an anti-austerity protest timed to coincide with the parliamentary procedure late last night.
The street violence reflected broad public anger at measures now backed by Tsipras despite a July 5 referendum rejecting near-identical terms from Greece’s creditors. A vote was expected after midnight.
Prior to the vote, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made a final appeal for support of the tough bailout measures imposed by European partners this week, telling legislators there was no alternative, even though he disagreed with the measures.
“If at any point my resignation is sought it would be at the disposal of the (Prime Minister)”, Lafazanis told journalists. Several hundred demonstrators turned violent, setting fires and hurling objects at police. Some in the crowd hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at the police, who responded with tear gas and pepper spray, temporarily turning the scene into fiery chaos.
These reforms are required before the country can receive a third bailout worth as much as $96 billion, but many Greeks are opposed to the measures.
The European Commission has proposed giving Greece 7 billion euros in loans from a special fund overseen by all 28 EU nations so it can meet its upcoming debts.
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Parliament speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou slammed the deal as a product of blackmail, describing the additional poverty it would cause as an act of “social genocide”.
