Another 5 members of the 300-seat house voted present, a kind of abstention.
ATHENS Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras contained a rebellion in his left-wing Syriza party to win parliamentary approval on Thursday for a second package of reforms required to start talks on a financial rescue deal.
A senior Greek official said the government wanted to have the bailout in place in time.
Dissent within Tsipras’ Syriza party twice came close to toppling the government, and has fuelled speculation of an earlier-than-expected general election in fall.
“We have stability here: Reliable taxation, sound legislation and a positive environment”, said Ioannis Politis, manager of Greek hygiene products company Septona, which established a plant in the northern Bulgarian city of Ruse 10 years ago.
Greece will “fully normalize working methods with the Institutions, including the necessary work on the ground in Athens, to improve program implementation and monitoring”, according to the summit agreement Tsipras signed up to.
“People come into the shop but they ask about the prices and don’t buy anything”, he said.
His wife and 11-year-old daughter have already moved to Germany – the country that’s ironically blamed for numerous economic and social problems afflicting Greece. Minor violence marred the end of the protest when a few teenagers threw petrol bombs at riot police, but no injuries or arrests were reported.
But sources indicate that creditors are less optimistic about a deal being finalized so soon. Gerovasili initially said the International Monetary Fund invitation had been sent, but other government financial officials subsequently said it would be sent later Friday.
They hope to reach a deal on a bailout of up to 86 billion euros by August 20, when Greece is due to pay 3.4 billion euros to the European Central Bank.
On Wednesday, the European Central Bank provided a new vital cash injection to Greece’s battered banks.
Still, daily withdrawals at ATMs are still limited to 60 euros ($65) per account holder.
Greece’s creditors want to see it agree and implement tax increases, spending cuts and economic reforms in return for the third bailout.
Strict controls on the amounts individuals can withdraw remain and new austerity taxes demanded by the country’s European creditors mean that most everyday items are more expensive – from coffee to taxis to cooking oil.
The vote was the second the parliament has made to enable talks on the bailout to go ahead.
Although Greece has managed to record such a surplus for the past two years, the country is now back in recession and analysts believe a surplus will be hard to repeat this year without further, painful austerity measures, particularly in the public sector.
Syriza rebels in Thursday’s vote included the firebrand parliament speaker, Zoe Konstantopoulou. “We will fight for countermeasures and for funds for society”, he told lawmakers.
Tsipras insists there is no viable alternative to the bailout but has been wary of striking out against his party opponents in a bid to keep it together, at least while talks proceed.
The reforms approved Thursday are aimed at reducing the country’s court backlog and speeding up revenue-related cases. “Greeks can’t even consider having them back”. Without the money Greece would likely be forced to leave the euro.
“We really don’t know what lies ahead with their tactics”, said the owner of a busy café near parliament.
