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Greece to vote on third bail-out plan, PM optimistic

(CRI Online)    20:37, August 13, 2015
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The Greek Prime Minister says he is optimistic that his country's third bailout plan in five years will be secured.

The comment comes ahead of a EU finance ministers' meeting due to be held in Brussels on Friday.

Meanwhile, an expert has said upcoming political changes in the country could counter its financial future.

Greece is rushing a draft bill on another EU bailout plan through its parliament.

A debate and a full vote are expected for Thursday ahead of a Eurozone finance ministers' meeting on Friday.

Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister, said he expected the deal to be secured.

"Regardless of the obstacles that some are trying to put in our way, even now, I am positive and I remain positive that we will manage to come to an agreement and get a loan from the European Stability Mechanism that will put an end to the financial uncertainty."

The bailout plan is worth 85 billion Euros, or more than 94 billion USD, over three years.

The agreement over the deal must be made in order for Greece to avoid a financial disaster.

The country needs at least 3 billion Euros to settle a debt with the European Central Bank and avoid a default by August 20.

The bailout loans come with conditions of deep austerity measures for Greece. Last month, Greece passed a second round of reforms in order to commence talks on the new bailout package.

Dr. Nikos Skoutaris is a constitutional expert and a European Union law lecturer at East Anglia University in the UK.

Expecting a snap election in Greece sometime this fall, he says the election process could impact the implementation of the reforms.

"Greece as an administration is a system that heavily relies on the actions of the ministers, right, so the ministers have a very hands-on approach in Greece. So if the ministers are more interested in actually earning an election, earning the vote, it goes without saying that they will be less active on actually pushing the reforms."

Skoutaris further explains that the political process of elections could prove counterproductive to the reforms.

"Now having said that, one has to say that in order for those reforms, those very difficult reforms, to pass, we need a government that will have a majority, if not an overwhelming majority. So in a way, it's a vicious circle, elections will be a problem in the implementation of the reforms, but without elections, without a strong government, reforms cannot pass."

Skoutaris says he expects the Greek parliament to pass the bill. The bailout plan is expected to give Greeks some relief, even if only temporary, after a year of financial turbulence.

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Editor:Ma Xiaochun,Bianji)

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