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Greece's left-wing govt majority cut after austerity vote

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece's left-wing government saw its majority cut to just three seats in parliament on Thursday following dissent over an austerity vote.

Lawmakers voted 153-137 to loosen rules in a mortgage protection scheme and impose new fees and taxes, including higher duties on wine.

But one deputy was expelled from the ruling left-wing Syriza party's parliamentary group and another from its rightist coalition partner after both defied their parties.

The result leaves Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras with just 153 seats in the 300-member parliament, two months after his victory in a general election.

Eurozone bailout lenders had demanded the new measures in exchange for the next loan payout to Greece as well as a planned bank rescue - totaling 12 billion euros ($12.9 billion).

New mortgage rules were needed to return Greek banks to health, Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis argued.

"We have a record amount for non-performing loans, around 40 percent, while in the rest of Europe the average is about 5-7 percent. We have to reduce that number," he told parliament.

Tsipras, 41 and his Syriza party were first elected in January pledging to scrap austerity measures implemented since Greece's its first bailout in 2010. He was re-elected in September, despite a split in his party after he broke key pledges to keep Greece in the eurozone and avoid bankruptcy.

Before Thursday's vote, former government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis gave up his seat in parliament to protest the austerity measures.

Tsipras now faces more major hurdles in coming weeks, with a drastic overhaul planned for the country's troubled pension system. And he can no longer count on support from pro-European opposition parties, which had insisted he avoid calling the early election in September.

"I'd like to see how you'll sleep at night when the first home owner loses his house," conservative opposition leader Evangelos Meimarakis told government lawmakers. "Mr. Tsipras promised to protect primary homes. It was a lie to get people to vote for him."

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Minisipal contract workers chat as they protest outside the Labour Ministry in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. A prominent lawmaker in Greece's governing left-wing party has stepped down, hours before an important vote on reforms demanded by bailout creditors, saying he can no longer back government policies.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) The Associated Press
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