June 21, 2011
Prime Minister George Papandreou of Greece won a crucial vote of confidence late Tuesday, with all 155 lawmakers of the Socialist Party expressing their support for his beleaguered government, significantly above the absolute majority of 151 votes required by Greece’s 300-seat Parliament.
The vote was conducted by roll call after several hours of fiery debate that resulted in several opposition lawmakers briefly walking out of Parliament in protest at comments by the deputy prime minister, Theodoros Pangalos, an outspoken Socialist stalwart.
In a sign that Mr. Papandreou had managed to rally Socialist lawmakers after a week of political turmoil, the ruling-party lawmakers voted yes, with 143 from the opposition voting against and two abstentions.
The vote averts early elections and a stalled government, which many had feared could throw Greece into default on its loans and the rest of the euro zone into a financial panic rivaling the one that followed the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008.
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