Greek Parliament Passes The Second Bail Out Bill

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is moving steadily towards the third bailout package for his country as he once again managed to secure the second set of reforms passed in the parliament with a comfortable majority on Thursday. While the first bailout package mainly dealt with tax hike and budget management, the second set will focus on hastening the justice system and provide guidelines and rules on how to deal with failed banks.

According to CNBC, Mr. Tsipras had to deal with strong opposition from the members of his own party, Syriza, the first time he faced the Parliament in order to get the first bailout package passed. The reforms, thus, had to be passed with the support of the Pro Euro Zone opposition party MPs. This time, too, Mr. Tsipras managed to contain a strong opposition from his party members for the second bailout package and sailed through with an impressive majority, once again with the votes of the Opposition. The legislation was passed with 230 of 300 votes, thereby moving a step forward towards the bailout deal. Thirty-six of 149 deputies of Syriza have cast their votes against the bill or abstained from voting, but the number is less than what it was for the more controversial first bill that was passed last week.

Skynews reports the second bill includes reforms in the civil justice system, measures that will boost the liquidity of the banks that have reopened on Monday and a protection scheme for bank deposits. Since last December, anxious citizens have withdrawn a large sum of money that amounted to about 40 billion euro.

"We made tough choices, and I personally made difficult, responsible choices. Today we must all redefine the possibilities ahead of us given the new circumstances," Tsipras said, urging the MPs to support the second reform bill. "We chose a difficult compromise to avert the most extreme plans by the most extreme circles in Europe."

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