On Tuesday night, lawmakers passed a labor reform package in a 156-130 vote, with 14 lawmakers absent. Prime Minister George Papandreou expelled a dissenting lawmaker from his party — the fourth member to be expelled since the Socialists came to power last year — leaving his party with a six-seat majority.
Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, speaking during the debate on the omnibus bill, said: “the government is obtaining its legalising basis from the vote of the latest (local government) elections and the vote of confidence of its deputies and will be judged for what it enacts on the basis of what it received and what it delivers in the next elections.”
Replying to criticism by the opposition, he stressed that the government is judged on the basis of what it does or tries to do, not on the basis of the political cost on each occasion, but public interest.
Outside parliament, about 1,000 demonstrators from labor unions gathered in protest. They demanded a more extended debate on the proposed reforms and changes to most of the proposals.
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