Some 9,000 demonstrators gathered in central Athens on Wednesday and a few thousand held banners outside the Greek Parliament as legislators began debating a second raft of austerity reforms, according to dpa. The measures are part of the conditions agreed to in Brussels on July 13 after harrowing negotiations on securing up to 86 billion euros (94 billion dollars) in international financing for Greece's beleaguered economy. They are expected to pass, despite having splintered the ruling SYRIZA party. The eurozone had required Greece to start implementing some economic reforms ahead of the new bailout talks - in part to help rebuild trust between the two sides, which had been severely eroded by five months of fraught bailout negotiations at the start of the year. But the reforms, which reverse many of SYRIZA's anti-austerity campaign promises, have angered political dissenters in Greece. Parliamentary president Zoe Konstantopoulou, one of the most outspoken critics, has slammed the process as unconstitutional. Lawmakers had little more than a day to consider the second draft legislation numbering more than 900 pages. Parliament passed a first raft of measures last week, but that vote prompted about a quarter of the ruling SYRIZA party lawmakers to rebel, as anti-austerity demonstrations outside parliament turned briefly violent. After the vote, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been forced to walk a delicate political line as he tries to retain the support of his party and assure creditors that promises are being fulfilled. He reshuffled his cabinet last Friday and said that he would have to lead a minority government until a final deal with creditors is concluded, referring to the rebellion as an "open wound during a critical time." Government sources said Tsipras warned SYRIZA lawmakers during a meeting Tuesday to "not hide behind the safety of my signature." He said that lawmakers who supported an exit from the eurozone should try to first explain their position to the Greek people. In Brussels, EU Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said that bailout negotiations would likely extend through mid-August. The eurozone has agreed in principle to grant the near-bankrupt country its third bailout in five years, but the two sides now have to agree on the economic measures that Greece would have to undertake in return for the rescue package. "The negotiations of the memorandum of understanding have just started and will lead us to, I would say, the second fortnight of August," EU Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said. The theoretical calendar for the negotiations goes through mid-August, he added, but declined to set a cut-off date for the talks. The Greek government is working with a deadline of August 20, when Athens owes another large debt payment to the European Central Bank (ECB). The creditors negotiating with Athens are the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the ECB. "After months of deadlock, we are now making swift progress," Moscovici said. The second bill avoids most controversial provisions, focusing on the adoption of a new code of civil procedure aimed at making the judicial system more efficient, and of new EU rules that require shareholders and bondholders to first take a hit if a bank collapses. "I'm confident these measures will be adopted tonight," Moscovici said. The legislation is in line with a pre-bailout agreement brokered in Brussels even though it omits taxes on farmers and details on pension reforms, government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said. "Globally, things are moving in the right direction," Moscovici added. The ECB is set to boost emergency funding levels to Greek banks by a further 900 million euros (980 million dollars), the Bloomberg news agency reported. The decision to raise the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) for Greece is to be made in a teleconference, Bloomberg said, quoting official sources. Tsipras is expected to rely on the support of three pro-European opposition parties to get the measures through, even as he needs to secure at least 120 votes from his own coalition to be able to continue as a minority government. SYRIZA holds 149 seats in the 300-seat parliament, and its coalition partner Independent Greeks has 13. Last week's rebellion cut Tsipras' support to just 123 votes within the coalition.
