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As Greek Bailout Deal Passes, Alexis Tsipras Faces Rebellion As Greek Bailout Deal Passes, Alexis Tsipras Faces Rebellion
(about 3 hours later)
ATHENS — The Greek Parliament approved an international loan deal early Friday that the government needs to avoid defaulting on a debt payment next week. But the all-night debate and a growing rebellion within Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s leftist Syriza party seemed to have pushed his coalition closer to spinning apart. ATHENS — The Greek Parliament and eurozone ministers approved an international loan deal on Friday that the Greek government needs to avoid defaulting on a debt payment next week. But an all-night debate required in Greece, and a growing rebellion within Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s leftist Syriza party, seemed to have pushed his coalition closer to spinning apart.
The dissent may force Mr. Tsipras to soon call for a vote of confidence in his government.The dissent may force Mr. Tsipras to soon call for a vote of confidence in his government.
With 222 lawmakers approving the bill, 75 voting against it or abstaining, and three absent, Parliament signed off on a package that would grant Greece as much as 86 billion euros, or about $95 billion, clearing a path for eurozone finance ministers to ratify a deal in an emergency meeting on Friday in Brussels. The accord requires Greece to put in place strict spending limits, new tax increases and sweeping changes in the way it manages its economy. With 222 Greek lawmakers approving the bill, 75 voting against it or abstaining, and three absent, Parliament signed off on a package that would grant Greece as much as 86 billion euros, or about $95 billion. Later in the day, the deal was ratified by eurozone finance ministers in an emergency meeting in Brussels. The accord requires Greece to put in place strict spending limits, new tax increases and sweeping changes in the way it manages its economy.
But the terms, which also include raising the retirement age and opening various parts of the Greek economy to greater competition, have proved unacceptable to a growing number of lawmakers in Mr. Tsipras’s government.But the terms, which also include raising the retirement age and opening various parts of the Greek economy to greater competition, have proved unacceptable to a growing number of lawmakers in Mr. Tsipras’s government.
While the measure received the support of some members of the opposition, it had the backing of only 118 lawmakers in the government coalition — fewer than the 120 lawmakers that Mr. Tsipras needs to survive politically.While the measure received the support of some members of the opposition, it had the backing of only 118 lawmakers in the government coalition — fewer than the 120 lawmakers that Mr. Tsipras needs to survive politically.
Among the 149 members of the Syriza party in Parliament, 42 broke ranks with Mr. Tsipras, either by voting against the bailout or abstaining. One other was absent.Among the 149 members of the Syriza party in Parliament, 42 broke ranks with Mr. Tsipras, either by voting against the bailout or abstaining. One other was absent.
After the vote, an official close to Mr. Tsipras said the prime minister would call for a vote of confidence in his government after Aug. 20, when Greece needs to repay a €3.2 billion debt to the European Central Bank. Mr. Tsipras is counting on the bailout being approved by all parties by that day, so that Athens can make the payment. After the vote, an official close to Mr. Tsipras said the prime minister would call for a vote of confidence in his government after Aug. 20, when Greece needs to repay a €3.2 billion debt, or $3.6 billion, to the European Central Bank. Mr. Tsipras is counting on the bailout being approved by all parties by that day, so that Athens can make the payment.
In a stormy parliamentary debate that began at 2 a.m. and lasted until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Mr. Tsipras eventually took the floor and defended his decision to press for the loan agreement.In a stormy parliamentary debate that began at 2 a.m. and lasted until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Mr. Tsipras eventually took the floor and defended his decision to press for the loan agreement.
But in making that case, the prime minister once again seemed to contradict the position he had taken just last month, when he exhorted the nation before a referendum to reject the sort of austerity terms that the new deal demands of Greece and its people.But in making that case, the prime minister once again seemed to contradict the position he had taken just last month, when he exhorted the nation before a referendum to reject the sort of austerity terms that the new deal demands of Greece and its people.
The bailout deal, which has severely undermined Mr. Tsipras’s base in Parliament, was “a necessary choice” to avoid returning to the drachma, the currency before Greece joined the eurozone, which would have been the equivalent of “committing suicide,” the prime minister told lawmakers during the all-night debate.The bailout deal, which has severely undermined Mr. Tsipras’s base in Parliament, was “a necessary choice” to avoid returning to the drachma, the currency before Greece joined the eurozone, which would have been the equivalent of “committing suicide,” the prime minister told lawmakers during the all-night debate.
“I do not regret choosing compromise,” he said, adding that accepting the bailout would allow Greece to eventually emerge from recession and “start returning to growth” by 2018.“I do not regret choosing compromise,” he said, adding that accepting the bailout would allow Greece to eventually emerge from recession and “start returning to growth” by 2018.
Now that the loan agreement has passed in the Greek Parliament, legislatures in Germany and other countries must also approve the bailout deal before Thursday for Greece to be able to meet repayments due that day. The new signs of instability in the Tsipras government raised fears among some of Greece’s eurozone critics that Athens could not be counted on to carry out the tough terms of the bailout plans.
The new signs of instability in the Tsipras government could fuel the arguments of some of Greece’s eurozone critics that Athens cannot be counted on to carry out the tough terms of the bailout plans. But the eurozone finance ministers overcame those doubts on Friday, as well as months of bitterness that threatened to split the single currency.
Already, the plan had stoked opposition in Germany over concerns about whether Greece will ever be able to repay what it owes or carry out the changes it is promising. But the German government has increasingly shown signs of softening its resistance. The finance ministers ended lengthy talks in Brussels after finessing the final elements of the deal. The sticking points had included the role of the International Monetary Fund and the possibility of reducing Greece’s debt-repayment burden and the process for recapitalizing the country’s beleaguered banks.
Eurozone finance ministers who are scheduled to meet on Friday will have to decide whether to approve the bailout program or instead push for a bridge loan for a smaller amount — enough to let Greece avoid defaulting next week and to buy time for the German government to feel comfortable about recommending that its Parliament approve the bailout. “The past six months have been difficult,” Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, the European Union executive body that helped broker the deal, said in a statement. “Together, we have looked into the abyss. But today, I am glad to say that all sides have respected their commitments,” he said.
During the debate early Friday, Mr. Tsipras urged Greece’s creditors not to move ahead with the bridge-loan alternative, saying it would mean “a return to a crisis without end.” In a sign of the mounting political turmoil that Mr. Tsipras faces, however Zoe Konstantopoulou, a Syriza hard-liner and the speaker of Parliament, had resisted Mr. Tsipras’s entreaties to speed up a vote on the bill so that it could be completed before the finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels. Ms. Konstantopoulou sought to stall the vote with a series of grinding parliamentary procedures, which did not block the eventual outcome but did mean that lawmakers had to stay up all night.
He also obliquely accused Germany and its allies of trying to derail the €86 billion package, suggesting that at the Brussels meeting on Friday, they would “try to take back what has been agreed.” And before the vote, the former energy minister, Panagiotis Lafazanis, who heads Syriza’s radical Left Platform, took the first step toward breaking away. In a statement signed by a dozen other leftists, he said that his group would form a new antibailout movement, one opposed to the memorandum specifying the details of the new loan program. Of the signers, only Mr. Lafazanis is a member of Parliament.
In a sign of the mounting political turmoil that Mr. Tsipras faces, Zoe Konstantopoulou, a Syriza hard-liner and the speaker of Parliament, had resisted Mr. Tsipras’s entreaties to speed up a vote on the bill so that it could be completed before the finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels. Ms. Konstantopoulou sought to stall the vote with a series of grinding parliamentary procedures, which did not block the eventual outcome but did mean that lawmakers had to stay up all night.
And before the vote, the former energy minister, Panagiotis Lafazanis, who heads Syriza’s radical Left Platform, took the first step toward breaking away. In a statement signed by a dozen other leftists, he said that his group would form a new antibailout movement, one opposed to the memorandum specifying the details of the new loan program. Of the signers, only Mr. Lafaznis is a member of Parliament.
“The struggle against the new memorandum starts now,” Mr. Lafazanis said, “by mobilizing people in every corner of the country.”“The struggle against the new memorandum starts now,” Mr. Lafazanis said, “by mobilizing people in every corner of the country.”
Speaking to reporters on Friday after the vote, a government spokeswoman, Olga Gerovasili, indicated that a vote of confidence, possibly followed by new elections, might be coming. “We will follow the regulations of Parliament and the constitution,” she said. Speaking to reporters on Friday after the vote, a government spokeswoman, Olga Gerovasili, indicated that a vote of confidence, possibly followed by new elections, might be coming. “We will follow the regulations of Parliament and the Constitution,” she said.
But first, she said, “the government will do all that is necessary to stabilize the country’s economic situation.”But first, she said, “the government will do all that is necessary to stabilize the country’s economic situation.”