Syriza factional revolt gathers steam in Greek parliament

(Vatican Radio)  Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has until Wednesday night to pass a series of pro-market reforms in parliament and overcome dissent from hardliners within his own party as he races to meet the terms of an unpopular bailout deal.

Listen to John Carr's report:

The left-wing revolt in the ruling Syriza party is gathering steam, as the leader of the dissidents calls on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to repudiate the bailout deal which he agreed with the eurozone leaders early Monday.

Panayotis Lafazanis, the minister for economic reconstruction and hardline Marxist, has set his face against the agreement, along with the labour minister, Antonis Stratoulis.  Both men belong to the militant left of Syriza, which claims at least 35 of the party’s 149 parliamentary deputies.

Even those deputies loyal to Tsipras, and his coalition partners the Independent Greeks, have gone public with their discontent at what they see as Tsipras’s backtracking from core Syriza policies.  The bailout agreement comes up for a crucial vote in the 300-seat Parliament on Wednesday.

Greece’s creditors say the Parliament will have to endorse a clutch of immediate reforms, such as higher taxes and less generous pensions, for bailout funding to resume.

The dissidents also include Zoe Konstantopoulou, the outspoken speaker of the Parliament, who many believe is plotting to seize the Syriza leadership for herself.  She’s already facing calls to resign.

But on the eve of Wednesday’s key vote, government sources have made clear that any minister who doesn’t toe Tsipras’s line on the bailout will find himself, or herself, out of a job, and fast.