Thousands of anti-austerity protesters have gathered in Athens as politicians prepare to vote on a second batch of reforms to unlock a huge international bailout.
The vote on Wednesday (local time)poses a fresh challenge to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' authority, after he suffered a major rebellion by MPs in his leftist party Syriza last week during a first vote on tough reforms demanded by Athens' international creditors.
Tsipras had to rely on opposition MPs to pass the law, which approved sweeping changes to debt-crippled Greece's taxes, pensions and labour rules - key conditions for opening talks on a bailout worth up to 86 billion euros over three years.
Some 6000 demonstrators gathered outside parliament ahead of Wednesday night's vote to protest against the cash-for-reforms deal, according to police.
Members of the Communist-affiliated PAME trade union made up the bulk of the crowd.
A handful of petrol bombs were lobbed in the direction of the security forces, who had thrown up a ring of steel around parliament after riots during last week's vote on austerity measures.
Tsipras is expected to win Wednesday's vote comfortably after opposition parties said they would back it, but analysts say the debate will show whether the premier can avoid another deep split within his own party and head off the risk of early elections after only six months in power.
Katerina and George Sergidou Kokkinavis, two Syriza members taking part in Wednesday's protest, said they had come because "the government is no longer listening to the people".
Syriza came to power on an anti-austerity ticket, but the government has gone on to ignore a referendum result in which Greeks came out against further cuts, and agreed to a deal that involves more painful reforms, hoping it will prevent the country from crashing out of the eurozone.
The second bill, less controversial than the first, covers civil justice reforms, a bank deposit protection scheme, and measures to shore up the liquidity of the banks, which reopened on Monday after a three-week closure imposed to avert a catastrophic bank run that could have seen Greece's financial system collapse.
AFP
