The omnibus bill bundling together an overhaul of the civil service and a new tax code, along with other budget cuts, was endorsed by 153 lawmakers in the 300-seat House in a roll-call vote shortly after midnight. Outside the Parliament building in central Athens, more than 5,000 Greeks protested the measures in a boisterous but peaceful demonstration, holding banners that read, “Let’s lay off the government” and “Traitors!”
The changes that have stoked the most public anger, and which prompted labor unions to hold a general strike on Tuesday, are plans to put 25,000 civil servants, including teachers, municipal police officers and school janitors, into a “mobility plan” by the end of the year, docking their wages ahead of forced transfers or dismissals.
By pushing the changes into law, the government secured the release of the first installment of almost $9 billion in rescue loans approved by euro-zone finance ministers last week. The aid is being meted out in tranches to keep the pressure on Greece to honor its commitments to its so-called troika of international lenders — the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank — which have extended the country two bailouts worth almost $315 billion since the spring of 2010.
But, in a volatile political climate, the government will be hard pressed to enforce the unpopular measures. Last month, a decision by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to shut down the state broadcaster, ERT, spurred the junior partner in his coalition to withdraw in protest, leaving Mr. Samaras’s two-party coalition with a wafer-thin majority in Parliament.
The austerity bill passed only after amendments were included to overcome objections by wavering coalition lawmakers and to appease the anger of the country’s 325 mayors over cutbacks to local authority. One change exempted workers with more than three children from the mobility plan.
Defending the changes in Parliament, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras insisted that Greece was on track to economic recovery despite unemployment that has exceeded 27 percent and risen above 60 percent for those 25 and under. “I am fully aware of the difficulties faced by the Greek people during this major crisis, but our efforts are paying off,” he said.
He referred to a five-month trial concession that Athens wrested from its lenders, which the prime minister had announced earlier Wednesday, to cut a sales tax on restaurants to 13 percent from 23 percent starting next month, as part of a bid to bolster small businesses and the crucial tourism sector.
Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the main leftist opposition party, Syriza, dismissed the reduction as a bone thrown to Greece by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble of Germany, which has prodded Greece to enforce austerity measures.
Mr. Schäuble is scheduled to visit Athens on Thursday, and Greek authorities have banned protests from central Athens for 11 hours as part of severe measures being taken for the visit, which is expected to fuel public anger at the austerity measures.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/world/europe/greece-approves-new-austerity-measures.html?partner=rss&emc=rss