Voting against multi-bill could lead to euro exit, Georgiadis warns
Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis has warned deputies who have threatened to vote against a government multi-bill containing reforms agreed with the troika that failure to back the measures could force Greece to leave the euro area.
“Anyone who votes against [the multi-bill] in Parliament will be held accountable for the country’s euro exit,” Georgiadis told Mega TV on Thursday.
“We are not kids, we are deputies… We are exiting the memorandum, everyone must live up to their responsibilities,” he said.
“The vote is a historic moment. The question is, who wants this land to move forward and who wants to take this land back to the nightmare,” he said.
Lawmakers were due to be briefed Thursday on the provisions of the government’s multi-bill containing the reforms, with changes to the rules on fresh milk and pharmacy ownership being two of the most contentious issues.
Government officials were on Wednesday still drawing up the legislation, which is set to be contained in three articles, as coalition MPs continued to express opposition to aspects of the troika agreement. A total of eight lawmakers – five from New Democracy and three from PASOK – have indicated they will not vote for all the multi-bill’s provisions.
There is also discontent in Parliament that the legislation is due to be submitted Friday with the aim of holding a vote on Sunday, thereby giving lawmakers little time to study the measures.
