Dissenters increased pressure on Greece’s grudgingly pro-reform governing coalition Thursday, hours before an important vote on measures demanded by bailout creditors.
A lawmaker in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ junior coalition partner said he would vote against the proposed legislation which, among others, will substantially reduce struggling mortgage holders’ protection from foreclosures.
The lawmaker, Nikos Nikolopoulos, refused to resign his seat and is expected to be expelled from the right-wing populist Independent Greeks party. That would cut Tsipras’ slender majority to four seats in the 300-strong parliament.
Earlier, a prominent lawmaker in Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party resigned his seat, saying he can no longer back government policies. Gabriel Sakellaridis, a former government spokesman, will be replaced by another member of the Syriza party.
Both moves point to increasing unrest in the governing coalition over unpopular reforms Tsipras has been forced to pass to secure the country’s third bailout deal.
Tsipras was first elected in January pledging to reverse austerity measures implemented since 2010, when Greece signed its first bailout to avoid bankruptcy. He was re-elected in September despite having broken most of those pledges, in order to keep Greece in the eurozone and avert financial meltdown.
Parliament is still expected to approve the proposed legislation later Thursday, which would pave the way for European creditors to approve another €12 billion in rescue funds — most of which will be used to prop up Greece’s struggling banks.
The most contentious part is the clause on foreclosures, which will affect hundreds of thousands of Greek families that up to now have enjoyed almost blanket protection from losing their primary residences.
About a third of all loans issued in Greece are now non-performing — from 14% in 2011 — as the crisis has severely curtailed Greeks’ ability to repay them. The average income has dropped 40% since 2010, while about a million jobs, or about a fifth of the workforce, have been lost.
The reform bill includes increases to wine and road taxes.
Tsipras faces another major hurdle in coming weeks, a drastic overhaul of the country’s pension system, which even government officials describe as moribund.
This would involve further substantial reductions in pensions, and already has unions and opposition parties up in arms. A general strike was held last week, the first since Tsipras came to power.