George Papandreou, Greek Prime Minister can breathe easy until the vote the new plan set, next week. At midnight, the absolute majority of the Greek Parliament (155 MPs out of 300) gave the vote of confidence he needed not only to move forward its disputed government program , but above all to move forward on the path of reforms that the EU demand and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To analyze the cuts, Evanguelos Venizelos, the new finance minister, met this morning with representatives sent by Brussels and the IMF.
Shortly before the vote, nominal and loudly, parliamentarians, the leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) addressed the House to formally request approval of his Government and the new austerity program for the period 2012-2015.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel," Papandreou said, "Our economic sovereignty recovered it just us. Only the Greeks have the right, responsibility and ability to change our country", he said, forgetting that Greece is in full "battle for the salvation of itself" and that the vote of confidence for him and his government, "a contract with the people." Beside him, Evánguelos Venizelos, the new Finance Minister Papandreou and former rival in the primaries of 2007, supervised the fleeting moment of glory and relief. Now the chief executive earns in a race against time against insolvency: if the fifth tranche of the rescue aid was approved in May 2010 did not materialize, the Greek State reserves will run out on 18 July.
As expected, the five opposition parties and 14 independent MPs voted against it, and there were two abstentions. Theodoros Pangalos's speech, Deputy Prime Minister, on the achievements of PASOK since the time of Andreas Papandreou, father of the current prime minister, led an abortive uprising shortly before the vote. New Democracy (ND), the main opposition party, left block to return to the floor 15 minutes later. Nothing indeed is strange in Greece, where the everyday politics still requires much more relaxed than in other latitudes.
Outside Parliament, tens of thousands of people, convened by the movement of the outraged and the trade unions, demonstrated their "no confidence"-and had baptized their mobilization, Papandreou and his plans "euroliberales." The protesters, some 20,000 by major Greek media, failed to surround the Parliament building, as planned by the police deployment, which created real "dead zones" free of vehicular traffic and pedestrians to ensure Members access to the House.
After the parliamentary process, which in Greek political circles is interpreted as a signal in the right direction towards Europe, Papandreou will address the Cabinet today the final formulation and enforcement of the Medium Term Fiscal Strategy (2012-2015 ). This name is called the program to further tighten the belt to the Greeks and Venizelos is presenting the mission of representatives of the IMF, the EU and the ECB-called troika – which arrived yesterday in Athens. The plan must be approved before June 29 as a sine qua non for the realization of the fifth tranche of the bailout. The program aims to save 28,000 million and get another 50,000 from the privatization of companies and public goods.
The officials, whose mass can undergo a drastic cut, is expected to lose their jobs, 150,000 of the 700,000 existing-is also concentrated in Syntagma yesterday against the privatization of state enterprises.
To warm up the engines in the morning took the lead a thousand workers at two public sector companies, the weapons and explosives. As if missing little animation in the streets of Athens, yesterday began the task delegation of inspectors from the troika (EU, ECB and IMF), which a year ago and Greek accounts oversees the implementation of adjustment measures. The Confederation of Workers (GSEE, its acronym in Greek), the main union in the country, mobilized many of its members before the European Commission headquarters in Athens, the epitome of infamy for all Greeks against the foreign financial supervision .