Greek lawmakers back 3rd bailout after all-night debate

1Friday, Aug. 14, 2015 | 8:08 a.m.
2Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos gestures during a parliamentary session in Athens, early Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
3The Greek government defended its new bailout program in tumultuous parliamentary sessions as it faced a rebellion in the governing Syriza party ahead of a vote on the deal.
4Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos covers his face during a parliamentary session in Athens, early Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
5Speaker of Parliament Zoe Konstantopoulou speaks to lawmakers during a debate in Athens, early Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
6The Greek government defended its new bailout program in tumultuous parliamentary sessions Friday, as it faced a rebellion in the governing Syriza party ahead of a vote on the deal.
7Lawmaker Panagiotis Lafazanis speaks during a parliamentary session in Athens, early Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
8Former energy minister Lafazanis, a Syriza hardliner who lost his cabinet position last month after voting against another bailout-related bill, took a step toward a full split with his party Thursday, joining a group of another 12 left-wing politicians announcing they will create a new anti-bailout movement.
9Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras liestens during a parliamentary session in Athens, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
10Greek lawmakers are continuing a debate in parliament to approve a massive new bailout deal after repeated delays over procedure and dissent within the governing left-wing Syriza party caused the session to last through the night.
11Lawmakers take part in a parliamentary session in Athens, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
12Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras listens during a parliamentary session in Athens, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
13Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, left, and Greek Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis chat each other during a parliamentary session in Athens, early Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
14Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, second left, waves during a parliamentary session in Athens, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
15Greek lawmakers approved their country's draft third bailout in a parliamentary vote that relied on opposition party support and saw the government coalition suffer significant dissent.
16Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, right, stands next to Greek Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis during a parliamentary session in Athens, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
17Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras looks at his watch as he speaks to a parliamentary session in Athens, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
18Greek lawmakers approved their country's draft third bailout in a parliamentary vote Friday that relied on opposition party support and saw the government coalition suffer significant dissent.
19Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras looks on during a parliamentary session in Athens, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
20Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras gives a speech during a parliamentary session in Athens, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.
21Greek lawmakers approved their country's draft third bailout on Friday after a nearly 24-hour marathon parliamentary procedure culminated in a vote that saw the government coalition suffer significant dissent.
22The government needed the bill to pass in time for Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos to head to Brussels to meet his eurozone counterparts, who will decide Friday afternoon whether to approve the draft agreement.
23The rescue package would give Greece about 85 billion euros ($93 billion) in loans over three years in exchange for harsh spending cuts and tax hikes.
24Unable to borrow on the international markets, another bailout is all that stands between Greece and a disorderly default on its debts that could see it forced out of Europe's joint currency.
25The bill passed thanks to support from opposition parties, with 222 votes in favor, 64 against, 11 abstentions and three absent in the 300-member parliament.
26Although approved by a comfortable majority, the result was a blow to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who saw more than 40 of his 149 radical left Syriza party lawmakers vote against him.
27He has come under intense criticism from party hardliners for capitulating to the creditors' demands for budget cuts - austerity measures he had promised to oppose when he won elections in January.
28The bill includes reforms increasing personal, company and shipping taxes, reducing some pensions, abolishing tax breaks for some groups considered vulnerable and implementing deep spending cuts, including to the armed forces.
29The mounting discord within Syriza is threatening to split the party and could lead to early elections.
30That stock market in Athens slid on the news and was down 2.3 percent in midday trading.
31State television said Tsipras was expected to call a vote of confidence in his government, but that was not confirmed.
32"Truly today we had a large majority that voted for the agreement, but we also had a number of lawmakers who chose a different course," said government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili.
33"Therefore, as the prime minister said during his speech, everything that is necessary will be done, adhering always to the regulations (of parliament) and the constitution."
34Gerovasili refused to give details on a potential early election, but said any action would come after Aug. 20, when Greece has to make a large debt repayment to the European Central Bank.
35Culture Minister Nikos Xydakis, speaking on state television, said early elections were now likely.
36"The agreement has cost the government its majority ... As things have turned out, the clearest solution would be elections," he said.
37The deal will also need approval from the parliaments of several other countries, including that of Greece's harshest critic, Germany, before any funds can be disbursed.
38Some nations, such as Finland, have already given their approval.
39Syriza dissenters angrily challenged the government during the all-night parliamentary session.
40"I feel ashamed for you. We no longer have a democracy ... but a eurozone dictatorship," prominent party member and former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis said before the vote.
41Lafazanis co-signed a declaration along with another 12 left-wing politicians Thursday declaring they would start a new anti-austerity movement.
42He stopped short of quitting Syriza.
43The terms of the new bailout were agreed earlier this week with creditor negotiators from the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund.
44"We took a painful decision of responsibility, and took a step back," Tsipras said in his defense of the bailout.
45"Our position cannot be served by escape or by fantasy. We took the decision to remain alive instead of committing suicide and complaining how unfair it was."
46Tsipras said Germany, and in particular its finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, was attempting to undermine Greece and its position in Europe's joint currency, and would rather see Greece kicked out of the euro.
47"In a few hours ... using unfair arguments and unfair demands, there will be an effort from the side of Mr. Schaeuble to take back what has been agreed," he said, referring to Friday's finance ministers' meeting.
48"That would not be a defeat for Mr. Tsakalotos, or for Greece, but for Europe."
49Some creditors have proposed giving Greece an interim loan to be able to make its Aug. 20 debt repayment and give them more time to fine-tune the deal.
50Senior EU finance officials have tasked the European Commission with drawing up a "contingency plan" for an interim loan as a safety net, said an EU official who was not permitted to speak on the record due to departmental rules.
51Greece does not want an interim loan and is hoping to tap the full bailout package by next week.
52Germany has so far maintained a cautious stance.
53Its deputy finance minister, Jens Spahn, on Thursday stressed the importance of getting a clear signal from the International Monetary Fund, which participated in Greece's two previous bailout, that it will remain a part of the rescue program.
54The IMF, however, insists Greece needs debt relief of some sort as it estimates that the country's debt, currently at 180 percent of GDP, is unsustainable.
55It says the IMF will decide on whether to participate in the new bailout once it has been set up and Greece's European partners have decided on how to ease the country's debt burden.
56It estimates that would occur after the first review of the new bailout, about three months after it begins.