The Greek Parliament passed a $95 billion bailout deal around daybreak this morning after a contentious all-night debate. The draft terms of the agreement include harsh austerity measures. It does not include any debt relief. The program passed by a wide margin. But Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced a growing rebellion within his own left-leaning Syriza party, which came to power promising to fight against austerity. Nearly a third of Syriza lawmakers voted against the bill, including former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who blasted the vote as “humiliating” and “non-viable.” Officials say Tsipras is planning to hold a vote of confidence next week, and some suspect the government could be toppled. One of the dissenting Syriza lawmakers criticized his own party during the debate.
Syriza lawmaker Panagiotis Lafazanis: “And what is the Syriza-Independent Greek coalition government doing? After all the anti-austerity struggles they led, they are now introducing another lovely bailout. So what kind of government is this, where whatever the Greek people vote for, no matter what they fight for, or what the outcome of referendums is, yet still the bailouts always win? It has a name: the annulment of democracy, the dictatorship of the eurozone over the neo-colony called Greece.”
Meanwhile, the terms of Greece’s bailout, which will be the third in five years, are also facing growing criticism from European institutions, who say they have “serious concerns” about Greece’s long-term sustainability. In a new analysis, both the European Commission and the European Central Bank advocate for debt relief measures, which have been opposed by Germany.