Samaras wins confidence vote

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras won a vote of confidence early on Saturday, shoring up his conservative-led government as it prepares to enter talks with international creditors about the indebted country's 240-billion-euro (303-billion-dollar) bailout program.

Samaras secured the backing of 155 parliamentarians from his conservative-socialist coalition, defeating the 131 opposition lawmakers that voted against him.

"The only thing that seems to be worrying markets now is the so-called political risk, which means whether the political stability which we restored will be maintained," Samaras said. "With this vote of confidence we are cementing this stability."

Presidential vote

Although the prime minister has saved his coalition for now, he will face another political test in February, when parliament chooses the country's next president. A candidate must secure 180 votes in order to become the head of state. Under Greek law, if parliament fails to elect a president, then snap elections are held.

It's unclear whether or not Samaras can secure the 180 votes needed to push his presidential candidate through. The leftist Syriza party - which is leading in the polls - has called repeatedly for early elections, arguing that the Samaras government has lost the support of the people due to its tough austerity policies.

"Tonight, when the lights in this room go out, we will all see that this confidence is far from the 180 deputies needed for a president to be elected," Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Syriza, said after the confidence vote on Saturday.

Bailout review

Greece is currently undergoing the fifth review of its bailout program by its creditors in the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. As a condition of the bailout, Athens has slashed wages, increased taxes, laid off public sector workers and cut social services. Unemployment has soared to 27 percent.

Samaras hopes that the tough measures will allow Greece to exit the bailout program a year ahead of schedule.

Syriza, for its part, is calling for the terms of the program to be renegotiated. The leftist party wants most of the debt written off and the remainder to be paid back according to Greece's economic growth.

slk/lw (AP, dpa, Reuters)