Not one, not two but… 15 amendments added by ruling SYRIZA party MPs to a wide-ranging draft bill on public administration generated a firestorm of criticism in Parliament on Tuesday, with howls from the opposition of petty partisan politics and “client state” relations.

Deputies from main opposition New Democracy deputies later walked out of Parliament in protest, hours after PASOK MPs also bolted from Parliament proceedings. MPs from the centrist Potami party then demanded a roll call vote for each of the 15 amendments, a request that was accepted by the majority.

Public Administration Minister Giorgos Katrougalos was at the centre of criticism, initially for accepting the 15 amendments, and in turn for his involvement – before he was sworn in as a minister — in lawsuits by plaintiffs seeking redress from various public sector entities, such as being rehired or demanding compensation.

According to the opposition, the 15 amendments translate into 3,600 hirings of layoff public sector employees. Several other amendments deal with transfers of state sector staff and even extension of construction license deadlines and even the cessation of “Criminal and disciplinary action against Local Governments’ office holders in cases where legal means are not exercised…”

“It’s clear that you (Minister Katroualos) have dictated the amendments to the deputies of our party so that they can be passed without debate, neither in committee (session) or in the plenum. Your deputies didn’t even support them as they should have,” top New Democracy MP Kyriakos Mitsotakis charged.