Greek parliament passes bailout compromise bill

by Vasiliki Mitsiniotou

ATHENS

The Greek parliament late on Thursday passed a controversial bill enacting economic reforms required by the bailout agreement with creditors.

After a heated debate, 153 of lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament approved the bill in a fast-track procedure.

The bill was preceded by a long and contentious debate which began in mid-October with creditors – the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, the EU, and the Eurogroup – on the percentage of home owners who should receive protection from foreclosure on mortgages and loans that they are unable to repay.

The bill also enacted alternative fiscal measures to replace a proposed 23 percent value-added tax on private education. The tax will be replaced by a special 5 eurocent tax on each lottery ticket and a tax of 40 eurocents per liter on Greek wine.

An agreement on the mortgage issue was finally reached early on Tuesday if all measures were not approved.

Creditors were threatening to hold the next bailout tranche of €2 billion ($2.149 billion) in rescue loans and €10 billion ($10.74 billion) for the recapitalization of Greek banks

The final agreement includes the protection of 25 percent of borrowers and for a further one in three borrowers based on the amount of their income and assets. In total, foreclosure protection for principal residences covers about 60 percent of mortgages among an estimated 400,000 homeowners.

The long awaited agreement has spurred fierce reactions from opposition parties and trouble for the Syriza-Independent Greeks coalition government.

Earlier in the day, Syriza party spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis, resigned.

Syriza MP Stathis Panagoulis abstained from the vote, while Nikos Nikolopoulos, a lawmaker with coalition partner Independent Greeks voted against the multi-bill.

As a result, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ousted Panagoulis from SYRIZA's parliamentary group and Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos took the same action against Nikolopoulos.

Back at the House, head of opposition party New Democracy, Vaggelis Meimarakis, blamed the government for evicting Greeks from their homes. "I'm curious about how Syriza MPs will sleep at night when the first auction will occur," he said in the debate in parliament.

Concerning the tax on wine Meimarakis also wondered "what interests does it [this tax] serve." He called leftwing Syriza “ a neoliberal and callous left [party] which converts pensions into tips.”

Deputy Prime Minister Giannis Dragasakis explained that the recapitalization of the banks called for this measure. "The recapitalization of our banks can be successful only if it is combined with management of the bad loans and a policy for strengthening employment,” he said, after noting that the non-performing loans were not treated at all by previous governments.

But head of socialist Democratic Coalition, Fofi Genimata, was not convinced. “You push people out of their homes with rapid processes. You sold them lies.” she said.

The government of Alexis Tsipras is determined to complete the first creditor’s review under the bailout package signed in July, in order to start talks with lenders on debt relief by the end of this year.