BRUSSELS — Greek leaders scrambled on Sunday to come up with a list of proposed changes to the nation’s austerity program that would be acceptable to their creditors by a Monday deadline, even as they faced a revolt by members of their own radical-left party, angered that the government had bent to demands by Brussels.
An 11th-hour deal reached on Friday by Greece and eurozone finance ministers did nothing immediately to reduce the obligations Greece must fulfill to keep a lifeline of cash coming and avoid insolvency for the heavily indebted government.
The sole concession to Athens was to allow it to propose changes to the requirements agreed to with creditors by the previous Greek governments, in effect allowing Athens to change the shape of its obligations, not reduce them.
While the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hailed the chance to propose its own overhauls as a victory, the deal represented a steep climb down for his Syriza party, which had vowed to get rid of the current bailout program.
What’s more, Athens will still have to convince its creditors that the alternative measures will not derail the budget. Any proposals must meet the approval of eurozone finance ministers, who are expected to vet them this week. Even if Greece’s creditors and eurozone partners are satisfied with the proposals, the deal still needs approval from the Greek Parliament, as well as other eurozone member parliaments.
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Another group within Syriza, called Communist Tendency, on Saturday described the Eurogroup deal as “submission to the blackmail of the troika” and called on lawmakers to oppose it in Parliament.
Sofia Sakorafa, another member of the European Parliament for Syriza, wrote on her Twitter account on Sunday, “The people gave a mandate for the memorandum to be annulled” and “we have no political justification to do the opposite.”
James Kanter reported from Brussels and Niki Kitsantonis from Athens.
James Kanter reported from Brussels and Niki Kitsantonis from Athens.
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