Greece’s Parliament passed a draft law approving terms for a third bailout memorandum on Friday morning by a margin of 222 in favor to 64 against, after an all-night debate in the legislature confirmed an acrimonious division within the ruling SYRIZA party over the 11th-hour agreement.
Eleven MPs abstained, declaring themselves “present”.
The large majority of deputies voting in favor was due to support by most of the opposition, excluding the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn party and the Communist Party (KKE). Nevertheless, 44 deputies of leftist SYRIZA did not vote for the memorandum terms – 32 “no”, 11 abstained and one was absent.
In two earlier Parliament plenum votes this summer, one to authorize the government to proceed with the framework agreement and another over required prior actions, SYRIZA MPs that failed to “toe the party line” were 39 on July 15 and 36+5 on July 23
Speaking during yet another marathon session of Parliament this summer, Greek PM declared from the podium that the latest agreement with creditors on much needed funding “was the best we could achieve”.
The statement came amid increased criticism by the far-left wing of Tsipras’ own ruling SYRIZA party.
“We determined that the country is out of the markets, while during the previous six months all efforts for negotiation were exhausted,” he said, adding that creditors chose to an increasingly combative stance to the point where the crisis was unmanageable.
In a characteristic statement, Tsipras said he has no regrets over choosing a compromise rather than “falling off a cliff” in an act of defiance.
On his part, main opposition New Democracy party leader Evangelos Meimarakis called on Tsipras himself to work directly towards restoring stability in Parliament’s deliberations and in the country as a whole.
He also called on the premier to consolidate his own party’s cohesion and avoid talk of snap elections, while sharply criticizing outspoken Parliament President Zoe Konstantopoulou, who has emerged as one of Tsipras’ biggest critics.
In one of her many interventions and statements during the debate and at the committee level, Konstantopoulou personally attached Tsirpas, saying she regretted the fact that he adds his name to the list of Greek leaders that signed a memorandum. She also said she can no longer defend him, speaking while most Cabinet members left their seats as she spoke.
Another high-profile SYRIZA “dissenter”, former FinMin Yanis Varoufakis, also voted “no” and said he is ready to resign his seat if the prime minister asks him to. Varoufakis, who has come under unprecedented criticism for his handling of negotiations with creditors for six months, with cries of “high treason” even leveled, said the agreement “does not stand the light of day”.
