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.
People with missing teeth might be able to grow new ones, said Japanese dentists, who are testing a pioneering drug they hope will offer an alternative to dentures and implants. Unlike reptiles and fish, which usually replace their fangs on a regular basis, it is widely accepted that humans and most other mammals only grow two sets of teeth. However, hidden underneath our gums are the dormant buds of a third generation, said Katsu Takahashi, head of oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, Japan. His team launched clinical trials at Kyoto University Hospital in October, administering an experimental
‘GOOD POLITICS’: He is a ‘pragmatic radical’ and has moderated his rhetoric since the height of his radicalism in 2014, a lecturer in contemporary Islam said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria. Al-Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda. He is a former extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. Yesterday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions. Last week, he said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to
IVY LEAGUE GRADUATE: Suspect Luigi Nicholas Mangione, whose grandfather was a self-made real-estate developer and philanthropist, had a life of privilege The man charged with murder in the killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare made it clear he was not going to make things easy on authorities, shouting unintelligibly and writhing in the grip of sheriff’s deputies as he was led into court and then objecting to being brought to New York to face trial. The displays of resistance on Tuesday were not expected to significantly delay legal proceedings for Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who was charged in last week’s Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, the leader of the US’ largest medical insurance company. Little new information has come out about motivation,
‘MONSTROUS CRIME’: The killings were overseen by a powerful gang leader who was convinced his son’s illness was caused by voodoo practitioners, a civil organization said Nearly 200 people in Haiti were killed in brutal weekend violence reportedly orchestrated against voodoo practitioners, with the government on Monday condemning a massacre of “unbearable cruelty.” The killings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, were overseen by a powerful gang leader convinced that his son’s illness was caused by followers of the religion, the civil organization the Committee for Peace and Development (CPD) said. It was the latest act of extreme violence by powerful gangs that control most of the capital in the impoverished Caribbean country mired for decades in political instability, natural disasters and other woes. “He decided to cruelly punish all
RSS