German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces dissent from her coalition ranks as she prepares to extend Greece’s bailout. Although the German Parliament is set to vote in favor of the Greek bailout extension, there will be a lot of internal growling in the CDU/CSU governing coalition, a trial vote on Thursday showed. According to a Bloomberg report, senior lawmakers say almost all of Merkel’s Christian Democratic bloc will back the four-month reprieve for Greece in a lower-house vote on Friday, 22 of the 311 caucus members opposed the measure in a straw poll on Thursday. The German Chancellor is set on her policy to keep the euro zone stable, thereby standing firm in her decision to support Greece’s bailout. However, Germany will not ease its pressure on Greece, with strong statements that the new government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras must meet the pledges of its existing bailout program. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Wednesday that Athens would not receive “a single euro” until it conforms to requirements. Meanwhile, the German public seems to be unsympathetic towards Greece’s borrowing requests. Germany’s largest daily,Bild, urged readers on Thursday to say “NEIN — No more billions for the Greedy Greeks!” by sending aselfie holding the newspaper as part of a campaign to stop financial aid to Greece. The anti-euro Alternative for German party is also against the Greek and other EU bailouts. The party has won seats in all four German parliaments since August. Party co-leader and MEP Bernd Lucke urged Christian Democratic lawmakers to forget party discipline and vote their conscience on Friday. From Merkel’s coalition ranks, Hans Michelbach of the Bavaria-based Christian Social Union says he’ll refuse to back the chancellor for the first time because “it’s illusory to think the rescue will work.” Peter Ramsauer, a CSU lawmaker and former transportation minister under Merkel, also said he’ll vote against the extension. Therefore, political analysts say, the coalition government might face problems on elections down the road and the German chancellor most likely will take that into consideration regarding her stance on Greece in the future.
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