Dissent hits Greek coalition before austerity vote

In this Oct. 4, 2012, file photo, riot police clash with protesters inside Greece's Defense Ministry in Athens. Police clashed with scores of protesting shipyard workers after they forced their way into the grounds of Greece's Defense Ministry. The workers say they have not been paid in months. To the casual visitor, all might appear well in Athens, but scratch the surface and you find a society in freefall, ripped apart by the most vicious financial crisis the country has seen in half a century. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
Police officers chant anti-government slogans during a protest in central Athens on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. More than a thousand protesting officers from the police, coast guard and fire department joined a rally in Athens to demonstrate against government cuts, in the latest protest ahead of a planned two-day general strike next week. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
A Greek police officer stands in front of a banner during a protest in central Athens on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. More than a thousand protesting officers from the police, coast guard and fire department joined a rally in Athens to demonstrate against government cuts, in the latest protest ahead of a planned two-day general strike next week. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Journalists march in central Athens during a protest, Wednesday, Oct. 31 2012. The banner reads "Don't Ax Human Dignity". Greece's two main labor unions covering civil servants and the private sector have called a 48-hour strike to protest austerity measures due to be voted on next week. The strike call came as the finance minister submitted an amended 2013 budget that raised the country's debt and deficit forecasts for next year. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)
In this Monday, Sept. 24, file photo an elderly man walks inside the Athens' central fish market. To the casual visitor, all might appear well in Athens. But scratch the surface and you find a society in freefall, ripped apart by the most vicious financial crisis the country has seen in half a century. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
In this Sept. 27, 2012, file photo, Anastasia Mouzakiti, center, a paraplegic, came to the demonstration from the northern city of Thessaloniki with her husband, to protest outside the Greek parliament. To the casual visitor, all might appear well in Athens, but scratch the surface and you find a society in freefall, ripped apart by the most vicious financial crisis the country has seen in half a century. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Sept. 24, people walk inside the Athens' central fish market. To the casual visitor, all might appear well in Athens. But scratch the surface and you find a society in freefall, ripped apart by the most vicious financial crisis the country has seen in half a century. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
In this Monday, Sept. 24, 2012 file photo a man pick up fish inside the Athens' central fish market. To the casual visitor, all might appear well in Athens. But scratch the surface and you find a society in freefall, ripped apart by the most vicious financial crisis the country has seen in half a century. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
In this Tuesday Sept. 25, 2012 file photo a coffee shop owner tells journalists that he has had an 80 percent drop in his business, in Athens. To the casual visitor, all might appear well in Athens. But scratch the surface and you find a society in freefall, ripped apart by the most vicious financial crisis the country has seen in half a century.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Protesters stand in front of a banner reading "Workers United never Defeated" during an anti-austerity protest by Greek labor unions in Athens, on Wednesday Oct. 31 2012. Greece's government on Wednesday outlined the new austerity measures it intends to take over the next two years, a series of painful spending cuts and tax hikes that its international bailout creditors are demanding in exchange for rescue loans. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)
In this Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, private hospital nurse Paraskevi Petropoulou holds up her unpaid electricity and income tax bills during a protest outside the Health Ministry in central Athens. Petropoulou said that she has not been paid for more than five months, because the government owes money to private hospitals who in turn are unable to pay their employees. To the casual visitor, all might appear well in Athens, but scratch the surface and you find a society in freefall, ripped apart by the most vicious financial crisis the country has seen in half a century. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
Passengers are pictured in the underground during a subway strike in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Unemployment in the 17-country eurozone rose to a record of 11.6 percent in September as large parts of the region slide further toward recession. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone at 25.8 percent with Greece not far behind. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A resident of the northern Greek town of Florina shouts anti-austerity slogans as he demonstrates outside Parliament, during a protest in Athens on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Florina residents are angry at pre-winter tax hikes in heating oil, introduced as part of the near-bankrupt country's austerity measures. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)
People wait to buy goods in a chocolate shop, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Unemployment in the 17-country eurozone rose to a record of 11.6 percent in September as large parts of the region slide further toward recession. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone at 25.8 percent and Greece is not far behind. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
Greek bond holders stand at the entrance of Greece's central bank during a protest, in Athens Wednesday, Oct. 31 2012. Greece's two main labor unions covering civil servants and the private sector have called a 48-hour strike to protest austerity measures due to be voted on next week. The strike call came as the finance minister submitted an amended 2013 budget that raised the country's debt and deficit forecasts for next year. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)
Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, right, speaks with Greece's Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras during a vote on a privatization bill at the Greek parliament in Athens, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Greek lawmakers are to vote Wednesday on a privatization bill that will be the first major test for the country's troubled governing coalition, while journalists have walked off the job at the start of rolling 24-hour strikes to protest austerity plans that will affect their healthcare funds. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Greek bond holders stand at the entrance of Greece's central bank during a protest, in Athens Wednesday, Oct. 31 2012. Greece's two main labor unions covering civil servants and the private sector have called a 48-hour strike to protest austerity measures due to be voted on next week. The strike call came as the finance minister submitted an amended 2013 budget that raised the country's debt and deficit forecasts for next year. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

By Associated Press - Thursday, November 1, 2012

ATHENS (AP) — A government deputy in Greece has declared himself an independent, the latest sign of growing dissent in the coalition government ahead of a key vote next week on another round of austerity measures.

Socialist Deputy Michalis Kassis quit his party Thursday ahead of the vote for 13.5 billion euros ($17.5 billion) in additional spending cuts and tax increases over two years. The country’s international creditors have insisted on the package in return for the continued payment of vital bailout loans that Greece needs to avoid going bankrupt.

Greece’s conservative-led coalition government has shown increasing signs of fracture recently. The Democratic Left, a junior member of the government, has promised to vote against the austerity measures if they include provisions to ax labor rights. The three-party coalition was formed after June elections.

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Dissent hits Greek coalition before austerity vote

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