Greek Parliament approves reforms to unlock bailout funds

In a vote on Thursday, required to obtain the next tranche of Eurozone funding, that majority shrank to just two seats with the defection of two Syriza members from the party line.

So far, there is no evidence of further dissent in Syriza’s parliamentary group.

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

Before the vote, former government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis gave up his seat in parliament to protest against the austerity measures.

The most contested measure in the legislation concerned rules about when banks can repossess homes from delinquent mortgage holders.

The most contentious part is the clause on foreclosures, which will affect hundreds of thousands of Greek families that up to now have enjoyed nearly blanket protection from losing their primary residences.

His attempt to display a zero tolerance approach comes as government officials and representatives of Greece’s worldwide creditors discuss a second set of tough measures including increases to farmers’ taxes and a pension overhaul.

The reforms, which have been a major sticking point with the creditors, provide “foreclosure protection to about 60% of mortgages among an estimated 400,000 homeowners whose loans have soured during the financial crisis”, Reuters reported.

The coalition’s U-turn elicited widespread condemnation from the political opposition which unanimously voted against the bill.

The parliamentary debate had taken place against a backdrop of widespread consternation over the government’s decision to slap higher taxes on gambling and wine.

Addressing parliament, the social democrat Pasok leader Fofi Genimata accused the country’s first leftist administration of playing with fire. “Grexit is still in our courtyard and your policies are threatening to trigger social explosions”, she said. But the European Union economic affairs minister Pierre Moscovici congratulated Athens, calling the vote “another step forward for Greece”.

Tsipras’ priorities are to successfully conclude the first review of the new bailout and the recapitalization of Greece’s ailing banks, so that he can then start talks with its lenders on debt relief.