Troika Says Greek Proposal Not Enough To Meet Targets, Serves As “Basis For Negotiations”
Early on Saturday morning, the Tsipras government passed the Greek bailout proposal which it told the Greek people to reject – which they did – less than a week earlier. The grotesque farce continued until the very end when 15 Syriza lawmakers who voted yes said they nonetheless are against the reform package and expressed their opposition to the government’s proposal in a joint statement issued immediately after the vote in parliament.
Seemingly unclear how this “democracy” thing works in the country that supposedly invented it only to spawn its biggest mutant yet, the “dissenters” added that they voted for the proposal in order not to give an excuse for the undermining of Alexis Tsipras government. What they really meant is what the angry people finally crack down on yet another government, they hope to have a get out of jail card. Literally.
Other were far more vocal in their condemnation of the capitulation: Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, Deputy Labour Minister Dimitris Stratoulis as well as the speaker of parliament, Zoe Constantopoulou, all called “Present”, in effect abstaining from the vote and withholding their support from the government. “The government is being totally blackmailed to acquiesce to something which does not reflect what it represents,” Constantopoulou said.
At the end of the vote, the Tsipras government narrowly escaped the loss of a parliamentary majority, as 17 Syriza lawmakers, which holds 149 seats in parliament, abstained, were absent or voted no. Among legislators who were absent were former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis (who went on holiday earlier to his wife’s island vacation house), Speaker of Parliament Zoe Konstantopoulou (who penned the famous Greek “Odius Debt” declaration) and two cabinet ministers.
The ruling coalition’s parliamentary majority was saved by the deputies of the right-wing Independent Greeks, who hold 13 seats in parliament. Additionally the three opposition parties handed Tsipras the mandate to negotiate and bring back a debt deal.
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