Frenemies? Greek Opposition Wants Prime Minister Tsipras to Stay in Power

Greece’s largest opposition party does not want to oust Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a member of the Greek Parliament from the Nea Demokratia (New Democracy or ND) party told Sputnik on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – An agreement between Tsipras’ administration and Eurozone leaders reached Monday has drawn ire from colleagues and the Greek population.

The deal, although averting Athens’ seemingly imminent exit from the currency union, forces Greece to adopt a series of unpopular austerity measures in exchange for a third financial package.

"We are not going to raise the question of replacing the Prime Minister. Even if there are changes in the cabinet, the Greek people voted for the Prime Minister, and he has to stay," George Vlahos said.

Two Cabinet members resigned on Wednesday, with 30 lawmakers from the ruling Syriza party threatening to oppose the bill. Pro-EU opposition lawmakers, including Nea Demokratia, are expected to vote for the bailout package by midnight local time.

Commenting on the possibility of holding snap parliamentary elections in the event that lawmakers reject this week’s bailout deal later in the day, Vlahos expressed hope for "normalization" to avert such a route.

"Elections do not always bring resolution to problems. We need to face the problems, and the Greek people voted for the Government and the Parliament to face them," the opposition lawmaker told Sputnik.