Greek parliament backs debt reform package

The Greek parliament passed a motion allowing proposals submitted to Greece's creditors - the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB), and International Monetary Fund (IMF) - to be used as the basis for negotiations on a new bailout program.

In a statement issued overnight, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the support of lawmakers gave him a "strong mandate to complete the negotiations to reach an economically viable and socially fair agreement."

"The priority now is to have a positive outcome to the negotiations. Everything else in its own time," he said.

Ahead of the vote, the Greek premier told parliamentarians that they had a "national duty to keep our people alive."

"We will succeed not only to stay in Europe but to live as equal peers with dignity and pride," Tsipras said.

He acknowledged that the proposals submitted to the creditors were "far from our pledges" made during his anti-austerity election campaign, but added that they were "marginally better" than proposals put forth by creditors prior to the referendum.

"Now I have the feeling we've reached the demarked line. From here on, there is a minefield, and I don't have the right to dismiss this or hide it from the Greek people," Tsipras said.

Dissent among the ranks

However, the parliamentary vote witnessed at least 10 of his party's members defect - with eight abstaining and two voting against the proposals. At least seven others from the left-wing Syriza party were not in attendance, including former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, signaling potential difficulties to Tsipras' coalition government.

Tsipras' latest proposal reneges on a handful of anti-austerity pledges made during his election campaign as it provides for pension cutbacks and tax increases. Greeks had largely voted against this in last Sunday's referendum, which saw 61 percent of the population vote against terms offered by its creditors.

Creditors offer preliminary approval

According to EU sources, EU and IMF officials have given eurozone governments a positive assessment of Greece's latest request for a third bailout.

If the bailout is approved, Athens would be offered 53.5 billion euros ($59.7 billion) along with some debt relief in the form of a three-year loan package.

The new program outweighs the 7.2 billion euros ($8 billion) left over from the Mediterranean country's previous bailout, considered a contentious subject in the dead-end negotiations that began after Tsipras' party - Syriza - ascended to power in January.

French President Francois Hollande, a key ally to Tsipras during the more than five-month long negotiations, hailed Greece's latest proposal as "serious and credible."

Eurogroup chief and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem described the proposals as a "thorough piece of text," but declined to go into specifics.

Deal?

But Martin Jäger, spokesperson for Germany's finance minister, said on Friday it was not enough to "present the June proposals in a new packaging," referring to Greece's latest overtures on a new bailout.

An EU summit is scheduled for Sunday to decide whether to grant the Hellenic republic a new bailout program, which Tsipras has said would allow the Greek economy to breathe after more than five years of crippling austerity.

ls,nm/bk (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)