Samaras and Venizelos to meet for second time in wake of stormy multi-bill vote

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Premier Evengelos Venizelos are due to hold a second meeting on Monday to discuss the fallout from the passing of the multi-bill through Parliament on Sunday night and preparations for the Eurogroup and ECOFIN meetings in Athens on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The coalition leaders met on Monday morning after a turbulent day in Parliament but are due to hold a new round of talks on Monday evening.

Their meeting comes after the bill passed, paving the way for the Eurogroup to approve the release of more than 8 billion euros in bailout fund, but with the government’s parliamentary majority reduced to just two.

Earlier on Sunday, SYRIZA had walked out of the debate after parliamentary speaker Evangelos Meimarikis refused its request for a censure motion against Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras that would have meant the vote on the multi-bill being postponed until Tuesday night.

“The persistent disaster mongers, who have been surprised by what has happened and all the good things that are coming for the economy, wanted Greece to suffer from a lack of governance,” said Samaras of SYRIZA after the vote. “We will not let them achieve this. We have made a giant leap forward for the Greece of tomorrow.”

The vote also created a new dispute within PASOK. Ex-leader and premier George Papandreou voted against the bill’s second article, which seeks to create a new legal framework for banks. Veteran PASOK MP Apostolos Kaklamanis voted “present” for this article.

The government won the vote with 152 MPs supporting the first article and 151 the second. Venizelos did not choose to eject the two lawmakers from PASOK’s parliamentary group, as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras did with New...