Greek Government Survives No-Confidence Vote
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
Published: November 11, 2013
ATHENS — The Greek government survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament early on Monday after its main political rival, the leftist Syriza, failed to gain adequate support for its censure motion. The coalition, however, saw its slim majority reduced further after one of its legislators broke ranks.
The vote came as government officials are locked in tough negotiations with representatives of the country’s troika of foreign lenders. A dispute between the two sides over the size of Greece’s projected budget gap for next year has fueled speculation about a new round of austerity measures in the recession-mired country where social and political tensions are rising.
After three days of vehement debate, a majority of 153 members in the 300-seat House opposed the no-confidence motion, called by Syriza last week in response to a police raid of the occupied premises of the former state broadcaster, ERT. The raid “denigrated” democracy, according to the leftist party, which said the government had “no popular mandate” for its austerity policies. Among the 124 who supported the motion was Theodora Tzakri, a Socialist Parliament member who was immediately ejected from her party, reducing the government’s majority in Parliament to four.
The result had been widely anticipated but there had been fears that a number of coalition legislators who objected to unpopular measures being sought by the troika would defect in a bid to boost their bargaining power. In a statement after the vote, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said the government had “emerged stronger, much stronger.”
Addressing Parliament before the vote, he accused the Syriza leader, Alexis Tsipras, of seeking to destabilize the country at a crucial moment as Greece negotiates with foreign creditors amid the first signs of the economy stabilizing.
“For the first time that Greece is negotiating with its lenders without its back against the wall, you’re pushing for the government to fall,” Mr. Samaras said, describing the leftists as “irresponsible” and “confused.” He said there would be “no more horizontal measures,” indicating across-the-board cuts to salaries and pensions. “The sacrifices of the Greek people are beginning to pay off,” he said.
Mr. Tsipras countered that the government lacked the mandate to continue imposing “catastrophic” reforms that have pushed the country into a deep recession and sent unemployment close to 28 percent. Speaking in Parliament shortly after a rally by some 3,000 party supporters outside the building, Mr. Tsipras called for snap elections so that Greeks could “reject the memorandum,” as Greece’s loan agreement with the troika is known.
“You have destroyed society and society will no longer allow you to continue this destruction,” he said, declaring that the government’s policies had wreaked “a national disaster” and “a social holocaust” and noting that “thousands of Greeks are looking through the garbage for food.”
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, who met with troika envoys in Athens on Sunday to discuss the progress of economic reform efforts and the budget gap for next year, said the leftists had plenty of criticism but “not one realistic counterproposal,” noting that the government’s policies had put the country on course for a primary surplus — a budget surplus not counting debt payments — for this year. Mr. Stournaras was to meet with the foreign inspectors again on Tuesday though the prospects for an agreement before a summit of euro zone finance ministers scheduled for Thursday appeared slim. NY TIMES
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