The Real Games In Greece and with the Troikans have begun !

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/feb/13/eurozone-crisis-greece-austerity-package-vote

7.50am: The scenes of mayhem on the streets of Athens last night, and in other parts of Greece, show the depth of public anger against the package. As we reported last night:

More than 40 buildings were set ablaze in an orgy of looting that left scores injured as protesters vented their anger at the caretaker government and parliament's ordering of a further €3.3bn of savings by slashing wages and pensions and laying off public sector workers.

Photograph: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images

This picture from last night shows protesters running away from teargas during clashes between protesters and riot police near the Greek parliament.

Prime minister Lucas Papademos warned that banks would collapse and schools and hospitals would be left without funds unless the bill passed. But 43 MPs failed to back the bill, with some arguing that Greece would be better off refusing to implement the measures and defaulting its debts. All those MPs have now been expelled from the coalition government.

7.57am: Germany's economy minister has warned that last night's vote will not be enough to guarantee that Greece receives its €130bn bailout.

Speaking earlier this morning, Phillip Rösler said the vote was merely a "necessary condition" on the path to Greece's second rescue package, as Athens must also prove that the measures will be implemented.

Rösler added that the German parliament must receive a report on Greece from the Troika [the IMF, the EU and the ECB] before deciding whether to give its approval for the bailout fund.

That vote is expected to take place in the Bundestag on 27 February.

8.22am: Greece must still clear four hurdles before it receives its €130bn bailout package.

1) The eurogroup of finance ministers, which meets on Wednesday night, must agree that it has now met the terms of the package
2) The leaders of its political parties must pledge in writing that they will implement it.
3) The German Bundestag must vote to approve the package, probably on February 27th.
4) The long-running negotiations with its creditors over debt restructuring (the Private Sector Involvement) must be concluded.

Gilles Moer of Deutche Bank told Bloomberg TV this morning that it is essential for Greece to maintain its credibility with its international partners. He said that the demand for Greece's leaders to make a commitment in writing "shows the pressure that the Troika is still prepared to put on Greece".

8.30am: City analysts are speculating that the situation in Greece could be thrown into confusion in a couple of months if Antonis Samaras, head of the New Democracy party, becomes Greece's next prime minister.

Samaras, the current front-runner to replace Lucas Papademos, told parliament last night: "I ask you to vote in favour of the new loan agreement today and to have the ability to negotiate and change the current policy which has been forced on us".

That would rather thwart the Troika's demands that Greece's leaders all pledge to implement the current plan, as Megan Greene of Roubini Economics pointed out on Twitter:

Megan Greene@economistmeg

Samaras demands bailout be renegotiated after elections and troika insists he sign that he'll uphold 2nd bailout. We still have a problem.

13 Feb 12

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Samaras also said his party will "demand the dissolution of parliament and immediate elections" once the second rescue deal is ageed.

Elisabeth Afseth, analyst at Investec, also warned this morning that "the next Greek crisis is then likely to come with the approaching election". New Democracy wants that vote to be held in April......

9.16am: In Greece, Athenians are facing the aftermath of last night's savage street fighting, which lasted for around 10 hours.

A firefighter extinguishes a smouldering building in central Athens today. Photograph: Dimitri Messinis/AP

Helena Smith, our correspondent in Athens, says that parts of Athens' historic centre now lies in tatters. There are burned out shells of buildings, including some of the capital's fabulous 19th century edifices. Shops have been looted and smashed, and cafes are still smouldering this morning.

Helena reports:

Unsurprisingly, the vandalism made for as much coverage in the press this morning as the austerity measures Greeks will have to endure for the best part of the next decade to make their nation's debt mountain even begin to look sustainable.

"Yes through fire and tears," Ta Nea, the mass-selling daily, proclaimed from its front page in reference to the vote's passage.

But it should be pointed out, as this appears to have been lost in coverage, that it was unidentifiable hooded youths hijacking an otherwise peaceful anti-austerity demonstration who were behind the violence, not hard-working Greeks badly hit by tax hikes and repeated wage and pension cuts who took to the streets not because they wanted a fight but to vent their spleen.

They are as shell-shocked as the shop-owners who turned up to work this morning to find their properties in tatters.

9.59am: On the political front, a cabinet reshuffle could come within the next few hours.

Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos needs to bring in new ministers after several Pasok and New Democracy members resigned in protest at the austerity programme.

Insiders have told Helena Smithin Athens that a "broad broad cabinet reshuffle" can be expected later today, possibly even in the next few hours. She reports:

Tired with the constant political bickering and brinkmanship that has eclipsed almost all else in recent weeks, interim prime minister Lucas Papademos is expected to forge head with a sweeping re-assembly of his ministers.

The 48-member cabinet will likely be streamlined drastically with the former vice president of the European Central Bank also following in Mario Monti's footsteps by appointing technocrats to key positions.

Monti, the eurozone's other non-elected prime minister, recruited academics and lawyers – some rather obscure – for his 'cabinet of technocrats' when he replaced Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's prime minister. They boasted an impressive record, but none of them had been chosen by the peope. Just like Papademos.

12.01pm: Just in – a Greek government spokesman has said that general elections will be held in Greece in April.

Spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told reporters in Athens:

The bond swap will be concluded in March.....Elections will be held in April.

(That's via Reuters)

Ths news will please New Democracy, the centre-right party that has been demanding an early ballot. It will not delight Pasok, the socialist party whose popularity has plunged since the crisis escalated.

11.56am: The body that represents Greece's retail industry has warned today that last night's vote will not spare the country from bankruptcy.

Vassilis Korkidis, the head of the National Confederation of Greek Commerce, said in a statement that:

Yesterday's vote in the parliament may have saved the country temporarily from default, but the Greek economy is going bankrupt and the country's political system is failing.