Greek PM Tsipras rallies Syriza backing before bailout vote
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tried to rally his Syriza party on July 21 before a vote in parliament on the second package of measures demanded by international creditors to open talks on a new bailout deal.
Tsipras has faced a revolt in the left-wing Syriza party over the mix of tax hikes, market reforms and spending cuts demanded by lenders but is expected to get the package through parliament with the support of pro-European opposition parties.
Talking to Syriza officials on the eve of the vote, he said he aimed to seal the bailout accord, which could offer Greece up to 86 billion euros in new loans to bolster its tottering finances and ward off the threat of a forced exit from the euro.
Earlier government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said the government expected to wrap up bailout talks with the lenders by Aug. 20 with negotiations expected to begin immediately after July 22's vote in parliament.
Officials from the creditor institutions - the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF)- are due in Athens on July 24 for meetings with the government, Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas said.
July 22's vote in parliament follows a first vote last week on the so-called "prior actions" on the mix of economic reforms and budget cuts demanded of Greece as a condition before the start of full bailout talks.
The bill was passed but a revolt by 39 Syriza lawmakers who refused to back the measures raised questions over the stability of the government, which came to power in January on an explicit anti-austerity platform.
The heads of the centrist To Potami party and the socialist Pasok party both said they would back the Tsipras government over the bailout accord but demanded a clear "road map" from the prime minister about what would happen after that.