New reforms plan approved for negotiations by 250 out of 300 MPs; Tsipras faces opposition from his party
The Greek parliament on Friday voted in support of the new bailout proposal that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had drawn to bring the troika of creditors -- European Central Bank, European Commission, International Monetary Fund -- back to the negotiation table. The new proposal, errily similar to the one it rejected, has Greece now agreeing to offer pension reforms, meeting 3.5% of fiscal surplus target by 2018, unifying VAT rates at a standard 23%, taxing the islands albeit only the ones with higher incomes and are more popular.
Out of 300 MPs, 250 voted in favor of Tsipras' bailout plan, however his plan was met with contention from 17 Syriza ministers -- two voted no, eight abstained and seven were absent. The dissenters included two Syriza ministers -- Panagiotis Lafazanis who holds the energy portfolio and Dimitris Stratoulis who holds the social security portfolio -- and prominent party member and Parliament Speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou.
"I support the government but I don't support an austerity program of neoliberal deregulation and privatisations which ... would prolong the vicious circle of recession, poverty and misery," Lafazanis said in a statement released to the press explaining his "radical and categorical" objection to the proposal.
Former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who resigned this week, remained absent but let it be known through a letter that he would have backed the reforms plan if he were present.
Before the voting began on Friday, news had emerged that the Greek centrist party To Potami had said that it will back the government on the reforms package, but five hardline leftists from Syriza had said that they prefered to exit the Eurozone, saying that a Grexit was preferable than dealing with austerity and without debt relief.
If the proposal is approved, Greece would get a three-year loan package worth nearly $60 billion (53.5 billion euros) as well as some form of debt relief. That is far more than the 7.2 billion euros left over from Greece's previous bailout that had been at stake in the country's five-month negotiations until last month. If the plan is rejected then Greece faces the prospect of an immediate exit from the Eurozone.
While all this was brewing in the parliament, OXI or 'no' protesters were out on Syntagma Square, where many expressed anger and despair toward the new austerity plan that has been put forth despite their 'no' vote in July 5's referendum.
(With Reuters)
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