Greek opposition party’s no-confidence motion stalls debate on reform bill

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A protester holds a banner during a protest from the confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants against a new austerity bill that will be discussed in Parliament, in Athens on Sunday, March 30 2014. The measures demanded by bailout lenders will be voted on late Sunday, and would liberalize several retail sectors. They include plans to grant supermarkets permission to set up in-store pharmacies, scrap price limits on books and allow a longer shelf-life for milk. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

ATHENS, Greece – Greece’s main opposition party has tabled a motion of no-confidence in Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, stalling debate on a bill introducing market reforms agreed with the country’s lenders and making disbursement of the next tranche of bailout aid highly unlikely.

Under parliamentary rules, debate on the motion takes precedence over any other item on the parliament’s agenda. It will start Monday and must conclude Tuesday.

The opposition Radical Left Coalition, known by its Greek acronym SYRIZA, opposes the reforms contained in the bill, which notably open up several retail sectors to more competition.

Debate on the reform bill was supposed to end at midnight Sunday and a vote was to follow.

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