10 November 2013

Greek government survives no-confidence vote

The conservative-led coalition government of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has survived a vote of no-confidence in parliament. The vote had been tabled by the left-wing opposition party, SYRIZA, which is strongly opposed to the government's austerity measures.

The motion was defeated by 153 votes to 124 in the 300-seat parliament. One Socialist member of the governing coalition voted in favour of the motion, and was expelled as a result.

Addressing Parliament before the vote, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras condemned SYRIZA for undermining the government’s efforts to heal the country’s economy and negotiate with visiting troika envoys. "You chose the wrong moment to play parliamentary theatrics, in a time when the government is in crucial negotiations with the troika", he said. “You think you can topple the government with your censure motion", he added, accusing the leftist of “doing everything they can to perpetuate chaos". "The sacrifices of the people are starting to pay off", he said, accusing SYRIZA of proposing no realistic alernatives to the government's economic programme. 

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, for his part, lashed out at the government for imposing disastrous policies that have “decimated” the middle class. Tsipras called for snap elections so that Greeks can “reject the memorandum".

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, who met with troika envoys in Athens on Sunday to discuss the progress of economic reform efforts, insisted in his speech to Parliament earlier on Sunday that there would be no more “horizontal measures", referring to cuts to salaries and pensions. 

The troika says there is a budget gap of more than €2 billion for next year that may require more austerity but the government argues the country cannot take any more.

Full article

Further reporting © BBC

© Kathimerini