German parliament prepares to vote on Greek bailout

German lawmakers are expected to approve Greece’s third bailout today, even though Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a damaging rebellion within her own party.

Some remain sceptical as to whether Athens will be able to pay back its debts, seeing the bailout as more good money being thrown after bad.

To counter dissenters, Merkel’s government has been talking tough on the new rescue package, insisting Greece will be supervised closely and that there will be no write-off, or “haircut”, on the loans the country owes Germany.

But still a significant minority of her conservatives may vote against the 86 billion-euro bailout including CDU politician Klaus Peter Willsch who is one of those who thinks this third rescue package is a bailout too far.

“I will vote ‘no’. An important reason for the people of my party who thought that they could justify the third bail out package no longer applies, because the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is out. It was predicted a long time ago. The IMF is out because they say there is no debt sustainability that Greece can provide,” said Willsch.
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The International Monetary Fund fact says it will contribute to the bailout when Germany and the rest of the eurozone agree to ease the terms of Greece’s debt by lowering interest rates and delays repayment dates for Greek loans.

While the rest of the bloc members take their turn to back the deal – Austria Estonia and Spain have done so already – Greece’s own parliament remains divided over the stringency of the bailout terms.