Greek government survives confidence vote in parliament

The Greek government led by Prime Minister George Papandreou survived a confidence vote in parliament early on Wednesday.

The 300-seat legislature supported the embattled cabinet by a 155-143 vote with two abstentions.

Greece is preparing to implement a tough austerity program in exchange for a bailout package from the EU and the IMF.

Last week Papandreou reshuffled the cabinet, replacing in particular the finance, foreign, defense and interior ministers, after which he demanded a confidence vote.

Unless Greece passes the unpopular five-year reform package by the end of June, it will not receive a 12-billion-euro tranche from the original 110-billion-euro aid package designed to save the country from default.

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