Tsipras seeks Greek ruling party members' vote on bailout

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on his divided Syriza party to ballot its members on whether Greece had any alternative to accepting a tough bailout, setting up a showdown with far-left rebels threatening to split the party. 

Greece narrowly averted an exit from the euro zone for now when it struck an 11th-hour deal with lenders this month, but that cost Tsipras the support of a quarter of his lawmakers who accuse the party of betraying its anti-austerity roots. 

In a defiant speech to the party's central committee gathered at an old movie theatre, Tsipras said his preference was for Syriza to hold an emergency congress in September to calmly deliberate strategy for the medium and long term. 

But he said some in the party were demanding an immediate solution in the belief that ditching the bailout offer from creditors was a viable one, and suggested that be addressed with a snap vote by party members on Sunday. 

He referred to the proposal as a "referendum" within the party, although it would be a vote by Syriza members rather than the general public, as took place on July 5 when Greeks voted to reject an earlier bailout proposal. 

"We are telling the Greek people loud and clear and with no remorse that this is the deal we managed to bring to them and if there is someone who thinks that they could have achieved a better deal, let them come out and say that," Tsipras told the assembled members, who included dissenters like parliament speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou. 

"If anyone thinks that Tsipras and Syriza refused a better alternative for the people, they should come out and say that." 

The vote in three days - which must be called by the central committee if it is to be held - effectively throws...