Zoe Konstantopoulou

Greece might have barely scraped by and avoided a default on payment of ECB bonds due August 20, after the Eurogroup approved the 3rd 86bln Euro rescue plan on Friday, but the real task of implementing the harsh austerity measures in exchange for the cash still lies ahead for the Greek government.

Greece’s Parliament passed a draft law approving terms for a third bailout memorandum on Friday morning by a margin of 222 in favor to 64 against, after an all-night debate in the legislature confirmed an acrimonious division within the ruling SYRIZA party over the 11th-hour agreement.

Eleven MPs abstained, declaring themselves “present”.

Pressure on Greek Parliament Speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou is mounting after right wing party AN.EL spokesperson Marina Chrysoveloni called on her to resign from her post. Speaking to Greek radio station Real fm, Chrysoveloni said Konstantopoulou should facilitate matters and step down as speaker of parliament, while commenting on the agreement she explained it was a compromise.

A new Facebook group now numbering more than 30,000 members wants deputies in Greece’s 300-MP Parliament to “institutionally react by immediately submitting a no-confidence vote” against combative Parliament President Zoe Konstantopoulou!

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sought to push the “Ratification of the draft contract for funding by the European Stability mechanism and regulations for the implementation of the funding agreement” through Greek Parliament through fast-track procedures.

Greece and its international lenders (EC, ECB, IMF and ESM) reached the 85-bln-euro bailout agreement to cover the next three years after 23 hours of talks that ran through the night on Tuesday.

The President of the Greek Parliament, Zoe Konstantopoulou has scheduled to convene Parliamentary committee sessions Wednesday night, 9.30pm, in an attempt to filibuster the procedure, despite Greek PM Alexis Tsipras’s request for the Greek Parliament to open immediately for the Greek assembly to vote on the deal with creditors, Tuesday.

While cash-strapped Greeks forgo the cinema and other luxuries, theater ticket sales are booming even if theaters struggle to cover their costs and actors often go unpaid On a stiflingly hot summer night, the ancient Greek amphitheater of Epidaurus is packed to capacity for a performance of a 2,400-year-old play by Aristophanes, a testimony to Greeks' enduring love of theater despite yea

State Minister Nikos Pappas views are world’s apart from those of Speaker of the House Zoe Konstantopoulou on the matter of the Greek National Council for Radio and Television (NCRTV-ESR). Dialogues confirm trouble and division within the party.

A Facebook campaign to oust Speaker of the House Zoe Konstantopoulou was begun on July 20. The group, titled “Censure Motion Against Speaker of Parliament”, requires new members to be approved before being allowed to sign the petition.