By Angeliki Papamiltiadou
ATHENS (MNI) – As the world watched past midnight, the Greek
parliament delivered a majority 155-vote-of-confidence victory to the
Papandreou government, a necessary step on the way to staying current on
the country’s debt service and diminishing the crisis for the eurozone.
Although successful as expected, the vote was still a dramatic
episode in the daily drama of survival for Prime Minister George
Papandreou.
The vote of confidence was delivered by all the 155 MPs of the
ruling socialist PASOK party, while all opposition parties voted against
with 143 votes. There was one absentee.
The government has now the crucial task of convincing its party
members to also approve the tax-burdened medium-term fiscal austerity
plan, expected to be taken up by parliament for voting in a week.
The 28 billion euro plan has caused political turmoil in Greece
the past two weeks, as several PASOK MPs threatened to veto it. Two MPs
resigned and one defected, forcing Papandreou to announce a reshuffle
and replace the finance minister.
The eurogroup stated Monday that the fifth tranche of the Greek
loan of 12 billion euros will be released only after the Greek
parliament approves the crucial medium-term fiscal plan.
** Market News International Athens **
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