Tsipras submits bailout terms to parliament

The Greek Finance Ministry said on Tuesday evening that the necessary bill had been submitted in time for a discussion by parliament.

Ahead of an evening vote on Wednesday, delegates are set to scrutinize the terms agreed by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during 17-hour round of talks on Monday. Many within Tsipras' own party Syriza have declared themselves to be against the conditions, which they say would include too much austerity and betray the principles of the party.

However, in an interview with state broadcaster ERT late on Tuesday, Tsipras said he would not resign.

"I will not run away from my responsibilities," said Tsipras, adding that the deal was the best that Greece could get after a referendum in which 61 percent of people rejected the terms of the eurozone's previous bailout offer.

"I assume responsibility for all mistakes I may have made, I assume responsibility for a text I do not believe in, but which I signed to avoid disaster for the country, the collapse of the banks," he said in an interview. Tsipras said creditors had displayed "vindictiveness" in response to the referendum and its result.

"The policies imposed on us were irrational ... But the policies offer a course out of the crisis."

Deadline for talks to start

The bill is expected to pass with the help of opposition pro-European parties, who have said they will vote with the government to ensure that Greece stays part of the eurozone.

Tsipras has until Wednesday night to get the measures - which are a prerequisite for the 18 other eurozone lenders to begin formal negotiations on the package - adopted by the Greek parliament.

Tsipras loyalists have sought to convince skeptics opposed to the deal that the cuts can be softened. However, a large number of Syriza activists remain opposed, as has Syriza's junior coalition partner, the nationalist Independent Greeks Party (ANEL).

The bill includes increases in value added tax, pension reform, the transposing of an EU directive on bank resolution into domestic law and a timetable for opening up the county's system of closed professions.

Many ordinary Greeks doubt that the deal will offer any improvement, expressing anger on social media, with the Twitter hashtag #ThisIsACoup trending.

Greece's public servants were set to stage a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, the first large-scale walkout since Tsipras came to power.

rc/cmk (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)