Greek Parliament passed austerity Budget 2013 with 167 YES, 128 NO and 4 Abstentions. right after the voting, Antonis Samaras expelled MP Soldatos (Lefkada) from the parliamentary group of Nea Dimocratia for having opposed the budget cuts in Labour and Development Ministries. the number of seats for conservative ND dropped to 125.
All 26 PASOK MPs voted YES.
Three out of 16 MPs from junior partner Democratic Left did not support the budget cuts. Two of them did not support the austerity bill last Wednesday as well. Will DEMLEFT leader Fotis Kouvelis oust them from the party ?
ND and PASOK have together 151 seats. Simple majority in the Parliament and a weak government.
Why does Samaras expel MP’s for voting against the Government? That’s the point of a vote – your choice – yes or no. It’s like Samaras is saying vote a yes or else you’re out!! Putting pressure on – vote my way or else!!
details of a functioning democracy lol
Democracy, being the key word here, at its best eh! We’ll never know how many MP’s would have REALLY wanted to vote against this austerity budget, could have been a completely different story then. Of course they will vote yes if it means expulsion, losing a salary, position etc etc. What tactics…..and what a farce!