Greece PM faces outrage over rescue deal 'coup'

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced open revolt from some of his own ministers as he sought support Tuesday for a bailout deal that, while saving the country from financial collapse, would cause years of more pain for Greeks.The Government must pass a raft of measures through Parliament by Wednesday night, including consumer tax increases and pension reforms, in order to start negotiations with European creditors on a third bailout worth as much as 85 billion euros ($95 billion).

The deal tramples on practically all of Tsipras’ pre-election promises to repeal the budget austerity that European creditors have imposed for five years. But after dragging out the rescue talks for months, Tsipras was out of alternatives this week: without a deal, Greece’s banks would likely have collapsed, pulling the country out of the euro, Europe’s joint currency.

The draft bill is expected to be submitted Tuesday and voted on Wednesday.Tsipras is expected to have the numbers in Parliament to pass the measures, since he will have the support of most opposition parties. But the government’s political survival is in danger if large numbers of its own lawmakers resign their seats or openly vote against the Bill.

There was speculation Tsipras might choose to reshuffle his Cabinet, which would remove dissenters from key positions.Energy Minister Panagiotis lafazanis, one of the hardliners in Tsipras’ radical left Syriza party, denounced the deal and called on the prime minister to cancel it before legislation reaches Parliament.

“The deal ... is unacceptable and does not deserve to be charged to a radical political party such as Syriza, and a battling government that promised to abolish ... austerity,” lafazanis said in a statement posted on his ministry website Tuesday. Germany, he said, treated Greece “as if it was their colony and (behaved) as brutal blackmailers and ‘financial assassins.’”