Greece: new bailout talks to start after bank laws passed

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greek lawmakers began another emergency debate Wednesday on further economic reforms demanded by worldwide creditors in return for a new bailout – a vote that could threaten the survival of the coalition government and trigger fresh fears over the country’s future in the euro. Many, including former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, voted against last week’s austerity measures, which included big increases to sales taxes that came into effect at the start of this week.

“Immediately after the vote of the prior actions, negotiations with the lenders will start, with August 20th being the final date”, government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said in a statement.

Despite the controversy and revolt over the deal, Tsipras can rest assured that Greece has returned to a relatively more “normal” state in the last few days, with Greek banks reopening after three weeks of capital controls.

ATHENS – Greek legislators are on Wednesday set to vote on a second batch of reforms that must pass if Athens is to receive its third huge global bail-out, in a key test of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s authority.

Together with his coalition partners from the right-wing nationalist Independent Greeks, Tsipras has 162 seats in the 300-seat parliament. “Right now, this won’t be useful”.

Moody’s said Greece’s probability of default is elevated at 3.17 percent as uncertainty remains over upcoming negotiations on a full bailout program, which are expected to last at least a month.

But after he made a U-turn by accepting a deal at the 11th hour to keep his country in the euro, he told party hardliners on Tuesday they, too, should face reality and back the package. Vassiliki Georgiadis, a political science professor at Athens’ Panteion University, said the split was between hard-left MPs – “some of whom have spoken of a Greek exit from the eurozone as the only solution” – and those more sympathetic to Mr Tsipras’s arguments. The main public sector union ADEDY, the communist-affiliated party PAME and anti-establishment groups have called rallies for Wednesday.

A senior German lawmaker in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party on Wednesday warned the Greek government not to backtrack on its reform commitments.

The bill will adopt into Greek law new European Union rules on propping up failed banks, but it does not include pension reforms curbing early retirement or raising taxes paid by farmers.

It also deals with sensitive issues affecting forced home foreclosures, which banks have committed not to proceed with before the end of the year.