adminATHENS — As another deadline for approving a package of creditor-mandated measures approached yesterday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and rebellious members of his leftist Syriza party have begun taking shots at one another in public. Parliament must approve a package of financial and judicial changes before midnight to keep negotiations on track for the bailout of 86 billion euros, or about $94 billion.
It has been clear since the first vote on the measures last week that a significant faction of Tsipras is frustrated with his leadership on the debt crisis, with about a quarter of his party voting against the first package of measures in Parliament last Wednesday.
The disagreement had largely played out behind closed doors and without rancor as Tsipras tried to persuade his dissenting party members, most of whom belong to the hard-line faction known as the Left Platform, to support him.
On Tuesday night, however, Tsipras, perhaps recognising that he was making little headway, seemed to take the first shot, as those close to him let it be known that he had said that the hard-liners were “hiding behind the safety of his signature.”
Yesterday morning, the hard-liners shot back. A lengthy critique of Tsipras’s performance was posted on Iskra.gr, considered the voice of the Left Platform, taking Tsipras to task for a number of issues, including the absence of a contingency plan when he negotiated with creditors.
In Brussels, Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economy, said at a daily news conference that formal talks with Athens on granting a third bailout had begun, and that they could be completed during the second half of August.
Asked about a decision by Athens to postpone legislation overhauling pensions and taxes on farmers, Moscovici suggested that those laws could wait. He said that passage by the Greek Parliament of other changes would represent good progress and would be sufficient to keep the bailout talks on track.
The measures before Parliament yesterday would streamline court procedures, which are notoriously slow here, and save billions of euros. The legislature is also being asked to adopt some European banking regulations that would, among other things, guarantee depositors’ savings up to €100,000.
The measures that were approved last week called for higher taxes and cuts in pensions, and many of those who voted against them, including Tsipras’ former finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, have said they would vote no again.
But until recently, the tone of the argument was gentle. Many dissenters argued that they still supported Tsipras, despite their opposition to some of the bailout terms, and that they wanted to stay in government.
But officials close to Tsipras said he considered such an arrangement unworkable and would be willing to call new elections to remove the rebels from office.
On a morning radio news show, the new government spokeswoman, Olga Gerovasili, said it was possible that a split in the Syriza party might be unavoidable. — The New York Times.
Londile Moyo
Bongani Ndlovu