Tsipras appeals for support of Greek bailout agreement

(Vatican Radio)  Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Tuesday night called on Greeks to support his acceptance of a third bailout agreement, amid signs that a large part of his own Syriza party was about to reject it.

Listen to John Carr's report:

In a late-night interview on state-run television, Tsipras admitted that he didn’t like the deal which he claimed was forced on him at the recent eurozone summit, but gave in so the Greek people wouldn’t lose their bank deposits in case of a Grexit.

He appealed for the Greek Parliament to endorse the two-item package of reform measures today, so that a three-year programme of 83 billion euros in bailout funds can start flowing, and Greece’s banks can reopen after a closure lasting nearly three weeks.  The conditions include higher consumption taxes, especially in the Greek resort islands, a less generous pension system and an ambitious sell-off of state assets.

The opposition conservative New Democracy party has said it will vote in favour, along with the socialists and the Syriza loyalists.  But at least 30 deputies of the Syriza left-wing, along with the Communists and the far-right Golden Dawn, have signalled they will vote down the package as merely bringing more austerity.

To counter the threat of being outvoted, Tsipras has signalled he intends to carry out a major reshuffle this week, to pack the cabinet with people more in line with his own moderate thinking.