Greek Parliament Approves Necessary Reforms for Financial Aid

The Prime Minister of Greece, despite internal opposition within his party, managed to gain parliamentary support for the necessary reforms to initiate discussions that could pave the way out of the country's financial crisis and enable debt repayments. The law passed in the parliament includes reforms to Greece's judicial and banking systems. This law, which saw discussions extend into the early hours of August 1, was approved with 230 votes in favor out of 300 parliamentary representatives. Among the opponents were 36 representatives from the leftist party 'Syriza,' from which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hails. Syriza holds 149 seats in parliament. Greek representatives had also voted on a financial aid package the previous week, during which internal party dissent within Tsipras's faction had also escalated. The German parliament, the largest economy in the European Union, had previously voted in favor of a new financial aid plan for Greece. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, referred to the new €86 billion package as the 'last effort' to resolve the crisis stemming from Greece's debts and their non-repayment, a crisis that has put Athens at risk of exiting the euro currency and even the European Union. Greek banks reopened on Monday after a three-week closure imposed by the government. The Greek government has allowed citizens to withdraw up to €420 per week from their accounts. Meanwhile, the value-added tax is set to increase from 13% to 23%, which is an effort by the government to raise €800 million through tax increases by the end of the current year.