ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's fragile coalition government faces its toughest test when lawmakers vote Wednesday on new painful austerity measures demanded to keep the country afloat, on the second day of a nationwide general strike.
The measures being debated include new deep pension cuts and tax hikes, a two-year increase in the retirement age to 67, and laws that will make it easier to fire and transfer civil servants.
Opposition parties accused the government of trampling on Greece's constitution with the proposed cuts in pensions and benefits, and complained that the several hundred pages-long bill was too complex to be debated in a single session.
Samaras' small Democratic Left coalition partner has said it will not back the measures, while a handful of lawmakers from the third coalition party, the Socialists, are expected to vote against the austerity package.
The vote in the Athens comes on the second day of a 48-hour general strike which has shut down the public administration, left hospitals functioning on emergency staff and closed schools and tax offices.
The measures being debated include new deep pension cuts and tax hikes, a two-year increase in the retirement age to 67, and laws that will make it easier to fire and transfer civil servants.
Opposition parties accused the government of trampling on Greece's constitution with the proposed cuts in pensions and benefits, and complained that the several hundred pages-long bill was too complex to be debated in a single session.
Samaras' small Democratic Left coalition partner has said it will not back the measures, while a handful of lawmakers from the third coalition party, the Socialists, are expected to vote against the austerity package.
The vote in the Athens comes on the second day of a 48-hour general strike which has shut down the public administration, left hospitals functioning on emergency staff and closed schools and tax offices.
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