153 "yes" to pass the multi-bill

The voting ended with losses both from PASOK and New Democracy. Specifically, the final result is as follows:

 

299 MPs voted

153 voted yes

128 voted no

18 voted "present"

 

Kostas Skandalidis was absent from the process, saying "there was a blatant violation of the framework agreement of the parties supporting the government." Thus, he was removed from the PASOK parliamentary group, along with Yannis Koutsoukos, Angela Gerekou, Markos Bolaris, who voted "present", and Theodoros Parastatidis and Michalis Kassis who voted "no."

 

But as much as the stance of these MPs was expected, no one predicted ND's Yorgos Kasapidis voting "present", which resulted in his removal from the party’s PG by the prime minister.

 

The 16 DIMAR MPs kept to the decision made by their collective bodies and voted "present." The next day finds New Democracy with 126 MPs and PASOK with 27.

 

Earlier, there was a scene of extreme polarization, with opposition parties vehemently attacking the government. At the start of the meeting, SYRIZA and the Independent Greeks submitted a request about the unconstitutionality of a number of provisions in the bill. They questioned the result of the formal voting result, forcing the parliament president Evangelos Meimarakis to proceed with a roll call vote on the constitutionality of the bill, delaying the proceedings for three hours. Eventually the discussion moved on, with 170 MPs supporting the constitutionality of the bill.

 

And while it seemed that everything would go smoothly, a last-minute addition to the salary status of parliament employees came close to blowing the whole meeting apart. The workers union went on strike demanding to maintain the self ruling of parliament and thus their salaries being determined exclusively by the president and not the government. Faced with this blackmailing dilemma and the urgent need to proceed with the vote, Yannis Stournaras retreated, clarifying that he will take the amendment back since "it is not a Troika demand but a total requirement of society." Despite assurances from the government about the withdrawal of the amendment, employees continued their strike and later announced that the "blackmailing and communication ploys will not pass."

 

The real political battle took place before the start of the vote, when the political leaders announced their positions.

 

PM Antonis Samaras made it clear that the vote was about staying in the Eurozone or not." SYRIZA president Alexis Tsipras brought back the issue of direct elections, while Evangelos Venizelos accused him of "wanting the death of Greece." Fotis Kouvelis once again explained the reasons that forced him to vote "present."