Negotiations Restarted: Greece and the ''Troika''

• 07.29.2015, 13:51
•  Europe,  World

The representatives from the European Union, European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Stability Mechanism have arrived in Athens, Greece, in order to restart negotiations regarding the country’s third bailout program.

As the greekreporter tells, the creditors’ representatives will focus on making changes to the pension system, labor market, fiscal policy and market regulation.

Athens and Brussels hope the terms of the new bailout can be finalized by mid-August, with cash-strapped Athens facing a 3.2 billion euro repayment to the ECB on August 20, and a 1.5 billion euro reimbursement to the IMF the following month.

Among politically sensitive measures held back from the initial package were curbs on early retirement and changes in the taxation of farmers to close loopholes that are highly costly for the Greek state,  Reuters reports.

Alexis Tsipras, the Prime Minister of Greece told there was room for discussion with the lenders on labor reform, phasing out measures for the farmers and finding alternatives of equivalent value on pension reforms and privatizations. 

The government should move forward on other issues that bore the leftist trademark, such as clamping down tax evasion and corruption and reforming public administration, Tsipras said.

However, all over the capital, in order to ''welcome'' the creditors, graffiti reading "Oxi" (No) are seen as a reminder of the 61% of people, who voted against more cash-for-austerity in a referendum on July 5. 

As Euroactive puts it, in Greece, hospitality is a concept as old as the Acropolis, but the country's "hated" creditors cannot expect the usual warm welcome, when they arrive in the context of the third huge international bailout.

The matter is that just a week ago Greek parliament overwhelmingly approved a new package of reforms demanded by the country's international creditors in return for a third multi-billion euro bailout.

 Tsipras once again faced a major challenge from his own Syriza party's eurosceptic wing, but had no trouble passing the draft legislation with the backing of pro-European opposition parties.

''The reforms are a necessary price to pay to keep Greece alive after stormy talks with our creditors nearly collapsed earlier this month'', - said Tsipras in particular, according to telegraph.

However, 36 out of 149 deputies from Tsipras’ party voted against the overall bill or abstained – less than the rebellion by 39 deputies in the first vote on an initial set of reforms. 

The Prime Minister, who still remains popular with the nation but seems to be losing his grip on Syriza, said the party had to regroup clarifying its strategies.

"Collective, democratic regrouping procedures are called for.The congress procedure must be set into motion as soon as possible," - Tsipras told the Syriza political secretariat, according to eubusiness, which also tells that the party congress is likely to be held in September.

However, a number of analysts predict that the government is unlikely to survive beyond autumn and early elections will have to be called.