Galery

1

The atmosphere in the Greek Parliament was charged from the very beginning of the session of the parliamentary committees when lawmakers asked to fix a finishing time. What specifically caused the mayhem was the attack the parliament speaker, Zoe Konstantopoulou, levied against Finance Minister Efklidis Tsakalotos. Mrs. Konstantopoulou accused him of having deliberately scapegoated her. The finance minister assaulted her back by saying that she was purposefully wasting everybody's time with the aim of delaying the process and triggering a ''bridging loan situation." According to Mr Tsakalotos, if the Eurogroup fails to reach an agreement tomorrow, they will opt for a bridging loan instead of greenlighting the third rescue programme for Greece – which is a far worse scenario.

After a heated exchange, the house was beset by mayhem. Some of the deputies rushed to the rescue of Zoe Konstantopoulou, while others insisted on fixing the time for wrapping up the session. The Parliament Speaker went for the jugular by denouncing the government for violating SYRIZA's election programme. Thus, instead of discussing the agreement with the creditors, the MPs indulged in in-party bickering.

Subsequently, the floor went to Dora Bakoyannis from New Democracy. She addressed Zoe Konstantopoulou with these words: "Madam Speaker, you should take a decision to close the procedure by 16.00 h so that we can move on to plenary and finally vote. We cannot clog up the whole process, simply because someone wants it clogged up." And amid remarks hurled aloud by MPs from both SYRIZA and New Democracy, Bakoyannis addressed the MPs of the ruling coalition: "Could you please stop your shenanigans! Let us finally proceed as planned."