After reshuffle, Tsipras eyes next vote and party rebels

Having conducted a limited reshuffle of his cabinet on Friday night, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s attention now turns to the next vote on measures demanded by Greece’s lenders, which is due to take place in Parliament on Wednesday.

Tsipras removed all members of SYRIZA’s left-wing faction, the Left Platform, from his government on Friday and may choose to confront the rebels in the coming days, possibly at a meeting of the central committee toward the end of the week.

The head of the Left Platform, outgoing Energy Minister Panayiotis Lafazanis, insisted on Saturday that he and his colleagues would continue to try to convince Tsipras not to implement a third bailout with Greece’s creditors.

“The struggle will continue so that SYRIZA changes its position and the new memorandum is not implemented in practice, that it be annulled by events themselves,” he told Agora weekly. “If SYRIZA insists on implementing it, the party is in danger of undergoing a transformation.”

Before Tsipras takes on the SYRIZA rebels, though, his focus will be on ensuring that the prior actions pass through Parliament on Wednesday with the support of more than 120 MPs. Last Wednesday, 123 SYRIZA and Independent Greeks lawmakers supported the bailout measures.

If Tsipras secures 120 votes or less, he may choose to step aside as this is the threshold he would need to secure in a confidence vote.