{"id":56704,"date":"2015-07-23T15:38:30","date_gmt":"2015-07-23T07:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=56704"},"modified":"2015-07-23T15:38:30","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T07:38:30","slug":"greece-clears-final-reform-hurdle-before-new-bailout-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/07\/23\/greece-clears-final-reform-hurdle-before-new-bailout-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Greece clears final reform hurdle before new bailout talks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shutterstock\"<\/a>
(Shutterstock image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ATHENS \u2013 Greece\u2019s radical left-led government emerged bloodied but alive early Thursday from a key vote in parliament, which overwhelmingly approved new creditor-demanded reforms despite a revolt among hardliners in the main coalition partner.<\/p>\n

The reforms to the judiciary and banking systems were the final hurdle the financially-battered country was obliged to clear before it can start talks with its creditors on a third bailout worth around 85 billion euros ($93 billion).<\/p>\n

Without the money Greece would face financial ruin and forced exit from the euro currency club.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers voted 230-63 in favor of the measures, following a whirlwind debate that ended at 4 a.m. (0100 GMT). Another 5 members of the 300-seat house voted present, a kind of abstention.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was unable to forestall a second revolt in a week among his own Syriza party lawmakers, but had no trouble passing the draft legislation with the backing of pro-European opposition parties.<\/p>\n

Government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili conceded that there is a clear rift within Syriza, but would not say whether rebels would be expelled.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom this point on, party procedures will be followed in order to deal with the problem,\u201d she said after the vote.<\/p>\n

The number of disaffected Syriza lawmakers, who see the reforms as a betrayal of the anti-austerity platform that brought their party to power in January, shrunk slightly compared to last week\u2019s similar vote \u2013 from 38 to 36. But that is still roughly a quarter of all party lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Addressing parliament before the vote, Tsipras said the reforms were a necessary price to pay to keep Greece alive after stormy talks with its creditors nearly collapsed earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have chosen a compromise that forces us to implement a program in which we do not believe, and we will implement it because the alternatives are tough,\u201d he told lawmakers. \u201cWe are summoned today to legislate under a state of emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tsipras also ruled out resigning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe presence of the left in this government isn\u2019t about the pursuit of office, it\u2019s a bastion from which to fight for our people\u2019s interests,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd as far as I\u2019m concerned, I won\u2019t abandon this bastion, at least of my own free will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tsipras said approval would give Greece breathing room to quash speculation that the country will be forced to abandon the euro, and help it regain market confidence and eventually tap bond markets again.<\/p>\n

Before the debate got underway, about 10,000 people demonstrated outside parliament, protesting the latest measures to overhaul Greece’s judicial and banking sectors. Minor violence marred the end of the protest when a few teenagers threw petrol bombs at riot police, but no injuries or arrests were reported.<\/p>\n

Negotiations with creditors are now expected to start soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom this point on, the government will focus all its attention on negotiating efforts in order that the agreement is concluded,\u201d Gerovasili said. She also pledged action to tackle corruption and tax evasion, address the \u201chumanitarian crisis\u201d in a country where more than a quarter of the workforce is jobless and poverty has soared, and restart the recession-mauled economy.<\/p>\n

The Syriza-led coalition government hopes the new bailout talks can conclude before Aug. 20, when Greece must repay a debt worth more than 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to the European Central Bank.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the ECB provided a new vital cash injection to Greece\u2019s battered banks. A European banking official told The Associated Press the ECB decided to increase emergency liquidity to Greek banks by 900 million euros ($980 million) \u2013 the second such cash injection in just under a week.<\/p>\n

Fearing a run by depositors flocking to take their savings out of Greek banks, the government imposed capital controls more than three weeks ago, restricting daily withdrawals to 60 euros ($65) per account holder. Extra ECB liquidity means that Greek banks will still be able to hand out cash.<\/p>\n

Greece has relied on bailout loans totaling 240 billion euros since 2010 after it was locked out of international money markets. It nearly crashed out of the eurozone this month, after relations between Athens and its creditors hit rock-bottom, and was only saved by a last-minute U-turn from Tsipras.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s vote was Tsipras\u2019 second crunch test in parliament in a week.<\/p>\n

Many in Syriza, including former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, voted against last week\u2019s austerity measures, which included a big hike to sales taxes that took effect on Monday. But Varoufakis voted in favor of the new reforms Thursday.<\/p>\n

An increase in the number of dissenters would have left Tsipras politically hamstrung. Although he would still retain a nominal parliamentary majority \u2013 as he has shown no inclination to expel rebels \u2013 Tsipras would depend on the support of opposition parties to pass any new reforms.<\/p>\n

Syriza rebels in Thursday\u2019s vote included the firebrand parliament speaker, Zoe Konstantopoulou. In a letter to Greece\u2019s president and Tsipras, Konstantopoulou asserted the measures were a \u201cviolent attack on democracy,\u201d arguing that lawmakers had been given very little time to study the voluminous bill.<\/p>\n

Tsipras has accused party critics of acting irresponsibly.<\/p>\n

The reforms approved Thursday are aimed at reducing the country\u2019s court backlog and speeding up revenue-related cases. Greek lawyers\u2019 associations oppose them, arguing that they will have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n

Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos conceded that the government would have preferred changes, but added that Greece is \u201cin a state of emergency\u201d and the alternative to accepting the proposed reforms would be the country’s forced exit from the eurozone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of two problems, I chose the milder one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers also approved reforms related to banking union mechanisms, aimed at reducing the risk for European governments from bank crises.<\/p>\n

In Brussels, Pierre Moscovici, the European Union’s top economy official, said he hopes the bailout deal can be signed by mid-August, although he acknowledged that means Greece has to meet a \u201cpunishing\u201d schedule.<\/p>\n

In return for Greece\u2019s bailouts, successive governments have had to enact harsh austerity measures to try to get public finances into shape. Though the annual deficit has been reduced dramatically, the country\u2019s debt burden has risen as the Greek economy has shrunk by around a quarter.<\/p>\n

The European Union\u2019s statistics agency announced Wednesday that Greece was making some progress on the debt front at the start of 2015, improvement that was largely erased by the bank closures and other recent events.<\/p>\n

Following repayments to European creditors and the International Monetary Fund, Eurostat said Greece\u2019s debt fell to 301 billion euros at the end of the first quarter from 317 billion at the end of 2014. That took the country’s debt burden down to 168.8 percent from 177.1 percent.<\/p>\n

Greece\u2019s debt still remains the highest in the 19-country eurozone by a wide margin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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