Political leaders clash before budget passed with 154 votes

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and conservative New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis crossed swords in Parliament on Tuesday with scathing exchanges on economic policy as well as public order and security ahead of a vote on next year's budget, which passed with 154 votes, while 143 opposed it. 

Referring to the country's "first post-memorandum budget," Tsipras said his government was determined to "finish its work," and accused ND of favoring the wealthy and privileged. "That is your ideology, that is your political plan," he said, "the prosperity of those on top and the impoverishment of the rest."  

Despite his government's lagging popularity, Tsipras insisted that the beleaguered coalition would pull through in next year's elections. "It is not pollsters that vote in elections but the people who you looted, and in September 2019 they will be looking to the future...