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Lawmakers backed the measures by 153 votes for to 128 votes against. There were 18 abstentions by deputies from the three parties forming the coalition government.
Antonis Samaras, the centre-right prime minister, said deputies were voting on “whether Greece would remain a member of the euro or return to international isolation, collapse into bankruptcy and go back to the drachma”. Provided parliament backs Greece’s 2013 budget in another vote due on Sunday, eurozone finance ministers are expected to approve interest rate cuts on Greece’s bailout loan– though these would still have to be endorsed by seven national parliaments
Eurozone leaders have given themselves three weeks to finalise an overhaul of Greece’s bailout programme, requiring parliamentary backing in creditor countries that are sceptical about reducing Athens’ interest rate burden. But eurozone approval, which officials hope will be completed in time to release a long-delayed aid payment to Athens on November 27, would only have been granted if the Greek parliament had agreed.
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