Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' conservative government has overcome a censure motion in parliament over unpopular pension reforms.
Lawmakers in Greece's 300-seat, unicameral parliament voted 152 to 138 late on Friday against the no-confidence motion introduced by the main opposition Socialists. Ten deputies abstained from the vote.
Passing the reforms has proved the first major test for the governing conservatives since their re-election by a narrow margin more six months ago.
Socialist party leader George Papandreou submitted the motion on Wednesday, accusing the government of harming the interests of Greeks and mismanaging the pension system.
"You are asking the Greek people to pay for your own sins," he said on Friday. "You decided to increase the retirement age for women, to reduce pensions ... and exclude thousands of Greeks and immigrants from health care."
Hundreds of Socialist supporters braved steady rainfall to hold a peaceful protest outside parliament during the debate.
"The government has tricked the people and stolen from pension funds' reserves," Papandreou told protesters.
Karamanlis has made reforming Greece's fractured and debt-ridden pension system one of his government's main aims since his re-election in September.
He has warned that inaction would lead to the pension system collapsing in five to 10 years.
Under the proposed changes, 133 pension funds, many of which are debt-ridden, will be merged into 13, while workers will be given incentives to retire later.
"There can be no solution without funds being merged," Karamanlis said. "The government is obliged to proceed with the reforms."
The plans have led to widespread protests and three nationwide general strikes, as well as dozens of other work stoppages.
Workers -- from power company employees and journalists to bakers, doctors and air traffic controllers -- have walked off the job at some point.
On Friday, workers at the Bank of Greece were on strike.
The pension reform bill has been approved in three parliamentary votes on separate batches of articles.
One final, procedural, vote on the overall plan is expected to take place next week.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese