Roundup: Greek parliament authorizes gov't to negotiate debt deal proposal

Greece's parliament lent its support to the government early Saturday to carry out a new package of reform measures on the eve of the critical deadline for the "Grexit" set by European partners.

A bill was passed by the plenum with 251 votes in favor versus 32 against, with 291 deputies participating in the roll call vote in the 300-member strong assembly. Eight MPs opted to abstain.

Athens' proposals for a new set of tax hikes, pension cuts and economic reforms in exchange for a 53.2-billion-euro third bailout program through the European Stability Mechanism over the next three years will be examined by the Eurogroup later on Saturday.

The government narrowly escaped the loss of a parliamentary majority, as 17 lawmakers of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' ruling SYRIZA party, which holds 149 seats in parliament, abstained, were absent or voted no.

Among legislators who were absent were former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, Speaker of Parliament Zoe Konstantopoulou and two cabinet ministers.

The ruling coalition's parliamentary majority was saved by the deputies of the right-wing Independent Greeks, who hold 13 seats in parliament.

Despite the blow, the leftist prime minister won an overwhelming majority, as three opposition parties handed him the mandate to negotiate and bring back a debt deal to avert a looming bankruptcy and Grexit, or Greek exit from the eurozone.

However, Saturday's "rebellion" within SYRIZA showed that Tsipras will face harder times when the moment comes to implement the painful measures.

Addressing the assembly shortly before the vote, the Greek leader admitted that mistakes were made over the past six months and that part of the package currently proposed by his government was far away from the initial anti-austerity policy program he announced in February.

"But, from now on there is a mine field and I do not have the right to ignore it or hide it from the Greek people," Tsipras said, stressing that his government made the decision to do the utmost to stave off a bankruptcy and Grexit.

Without a debt deal at the upcoming eurozone and EU summits on Sunday, partners have warned Greece would have to exit the eurozone.

Banks have been closed in Greece for the past two weeks and are running out of cash and no further aid is being provided by international lenders.

"After all, citizens did not give us a mandate for rift, but for further negotiations for a better solution," Tsipras said, referring to the July 5 referendum he called urging people to reject the June 25 debt deal proposal tabled by lenders.

Six out of ten Greeks voted "no" to a "humiliating" and unsustainable offer, as Tsipras had suggested. Critics of the latest proposal Athens tabled on Thursday argued that it was very close to the lenders' initial draft.

"Respect peoples' clear NO to austerity, respect democracy," Communist party members and left-wing citizens who voted "no" in Sunday's referendum chanted during two separate rallies staged Friday evening during the parliament debate.

"We cannot be blackmailed. We do not accept ultimatums. We want to live with dignity," read banners waved by protesters who rejected the updated Greek plan for a deal.

According to various sources, the Greek proposal passed on late Friday was the first test of the assessment by the heads of the three institutions -- the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The first public reactions across European capitals on Friday were mixed.

Without a debt deal in the coming hours, Greece faces financial collapse and a Grexit: Its banks have been closed for the past two weeks and are running out of cash, its economy is suffering from capital controls, it has been in arrears to the IMF since July 1 and has failed to meet a loan repayment deadline to the ECB due on July 20. Endi