Reacting to the Greek vote, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble said: “We are a step further” but he once again defended his controversial idea of a temporary eurozone exit for Greece. Greece has a tentative rescue deal, but relief that it is not falling out of the euro is…
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It was the first significant violence since the left-wing Syriza government came to power in January promising to repeal bailout austerity.
The next challenge will be the European Central Bank’s decision due later Thursday on whether to pump more money into the country’s hobbled financial system.
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.
But the premier suffered a major mutiny within his radical left Syriza party – 32 out of 149 voted against the measures, and a further six abstained – and had to rely on the support of pro-European opposition parties.
Riot police use their shields against petrol bombs lobbed by protesters during an anti-austerity protest on Thursday.
Creditors asked Athens to pass the first set of measures by Wednesday to get talks started on the deal that foresees Greece implementing tough economic overhauls and budget cuts in exchange for up to €86 billion in fresh loans.
Tsipras has been battling all week to persuade party hard-liners to back the deal.
It is imperative to state that the conditions of the bailout are against all of Tsipras’s pre-election promises to repeal the budget austerity.
If voted through, the European Central Bank could move to finally lift its freeze on emergency funding for Greek banks (ELA) as early as today.
“I never believed that foreigners are to blame for all of Greece’s ills”, it’s the ruling class that’s the true enemy, he said in an impassioned speech. But I know we did something with the sense that we had no choice. Nothing was certain and nothing is.’.
Independent eurozone analyst Yannis Koutsomitis told Al Jazeera that he expected a government reshuffle following the vote, as two or three ministers had voted against the bill.
Deputy Finance Minister Nadia Valavani resigned from her post saying: “I’m not going to vote for this amendment, and this means I cannot stay in the government”.
Parliament speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou, a prominent Syriza member, slammed the deal as a product of blackmail, calling it a “crime against humanity” and “social genocide”.
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The worldwide Monetary Fund study said Greece’s financial muddle has worsened considerably and European countries would have to give Greece a 30-year grace period on servicing all its European debt, including new loans, and a dramatic maturity extension.
