Greek prime minister tsipras sacks rebels

Tspras between a rock and a hard place?

July 17: Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister has removed dissident ministers from their post after he faced divisions within Syriza.

Ten high ranking politicians in Syriza were relieved of their positions. Those fired include Panagiotis Lafazanis who was energy minister.

Lafazanis was leader of the Left Platform group within Syriza. The group was very opposed to the bailout deal. He was replaced by Panos Skourletis a close ally of Tsipras.  Skourletis will be responsible for privatization.

A quarter of the Syriza representatives voted against the bailout deal in parliament forcing Tsipras to rely on the votes of opposition parties. 39 Syriza members voted against the bailout. The German parliament backed new negotiations on Friday in spite of some members of Merkel's party voting against the deal.

Deputy Labor Minister Dimtris Stratoulis, and the Deputy Defense Minister Costas Isychos were also removed from their posts.

---

Stratoulis' job was given to Pavlos Chaikalis, a former comic actor, from the right-wing partner of Syriza, the Independent Greeks. Deputy Finance Minister Nadia Valvani resigned before the vote.  New ministers are expected to be sworn in this Saturday. The main economic ministries remain as they were, with Euclid Tsakalotos remaining as finance minister and George Stathakis staying as economy minister. Yanis Varoufakis the former finance minister also voted against the bailout bill but he had already resigned his position before the last negotiations.

Tsipras has said there will be no elections immediately and not before a bailout deal is agreed upon.  Nikos Voutsis, the Interior Minister, said that there could be elections in September or October. The reform bill passed with 229 votes in the 300-seat chamber in the early hours of Thursday morning. The bill includes pension cuts, VAT hikes, reform of collective bargaining, and stringent limits on public spending erasing all of Syriza's "red lines". The bill represented the negation of everything that Syriza had campaigned and fought for. The IMF has criticized the bailout as creating a situation where Greek debt levels will be unsustainable. The IMF claims that severe debt restructuring will be required to make the bailout workable.

Additional Sources:
http://m.todayonline.com/business/german-lawmakers-back-greek-bailout-despite-rebellion-tsipras-sacks-dissenters
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/tsipras-sacks-party-rebels-in-greek-cabinet-reshuffle-1.2289114
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Greeces-Tsipras-Culls-Rebel-Ministers-20150717-0019.html