Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tried to rally his Syriza party before a vote in parliament on the second package of measures demanded by international creditors to open talks on a new bailout deal.
Tsipras has faced a revolt in the left-wing Syriza party over the mix of tax hikes, market reforms and spending cuts demanded by lenders but is expected to get the package through parliament with the support of pro-European opposition parties.
Talking to Syriza officials on the eve of the vote, he said he aimed to seal the bailout accord, which could offer Greece up to 86 billion euros in new loans to bolster its tottering finances and ward off the threat of a forced exit from the euro.
«Up until today I’ve seen reactions, I’ve read heroic statements but I haven’t heard any alternative proposal,» he said, warning that party hardliners could not ignore the clear desire of most Greeks to remain in the single currency.
«Syriza as a party must reflect society, must welcome the worries and expectations of tens of thousands of ordinary people who have pinned their hopes on it,» he said, according to an official at the meeting.
Earlier government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said the government expected to wrap up bailout talks with the lenders by Aug. 20 with negotiations expected to begin immediately after tomorrow’s vote in parliament.
Officials from the creditor institutions – the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund – are due in Athens on Friday for meetings with the government, Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas said.
Wednesday’s vote in parliament follows a first vote last week on the so-called «prior actions» on the mix of economic reforms and budget cuts demanded of Greece as a condition before the start of full bailout talks.
The bill was passed but a revolt by 39 Syriza lawmakers who refused to back the measures raised questions over the stability of the government, which came to power in January on an explicit anti-austerity platform.
The heads of the centrist To Potami party and the socialist Pasok party both said they would back the Tsipras government over the bailout accord but demanded a clear «road map» from the prime minister about what would happen after that.
Denouncing the bailout, Syriza hardliner Rudi Rinaldi resigned from the part’s 13-member political committee, saying loading more austerity on to the stricken Greek economy would pile on more hardship but not keep the country in the euro.
«It is ideological, political and strategic default for Syriza,» he said.
Together with his coalition partners from the right-wing Independent Greeks, Tsipras has 162 seats in the 300-seat parliament. But last week’s rebellion cut his support to just 123 votes and any further defections may be seen as undermining prospects for reform.
Some government officials have suggested that if support dropped below 120 MPs – the minimum required to win a confidence vote if parliament voted with the lowest allowable quorum of 240 lawmakers – Tsipras would have to resign.
But it is unclear whether he would step down. If a confidence vote were actually held, he would almost certainly win with the backing of the pro-European opposition parties.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald