Greece’s pension and tax systems are set to face reforms earlier than expected, following the government’s decision on Thursday to submit two bills to parliament to be voted on Sunday night, rather than Wednesday.
The move is said to have been decided upon to secure the backing of MPs before Monday’s meeting in Brussels, when Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is due to face his eurozone peers.
It didn’t take long to cause a stir however, with Labor unions calling a 48-hour general strike for today and Saturday.
This will see the city face three days of action, as a 24-hour strike had already been scheduled for Sunday, resulting in public transport disruptions, along with the closure of schools, public service offices, and hospitals will have low numbers of staff on duty.
According to Kathimerini, there was concern that if Mr Tsakalotos couldn’t present adequate progress at the impending meeting, that the Eurogroup would issue a stern message for Greece, resulting in rebellion from coalition MPs.
In a statement issued by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ office on Wednesday night, the reforms were described as a means to “fully secure people’s pensions, protect the weak, spread the burden of taxes and social security contributions more fairly and safeguard the sustainability of the pension system”.
Today the PM is expected to meet with Syriza MPs in a bid to rally their support to secure a positive review by creditors.
While it remains uncertain at this stage whether the proposed reforms will meet the International Monetary Fund’s standards, there has been speculation that following Monday’s meeting Eurozone officials are planning to issue a statement expressing commitment to relieve Greece’s debt.