Papandreou’s Bid to Avert Greek Default Tested as Vote Begins

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s bid to avert the euro region’s first sovereign default will culminate today with a budget vote now under way in a Parliament besieged by protesters amid a wave of strikes.

Papandreou may scrape through approval as dissenters waver among the 155 members he commands in the 300-seat legislature to allow him to deliver a 78 billion-euro ($112 billion) austerity package that will determine if his indebted nation can receive further rescue funds. In a final speech to lawmakers he said that the measures are a “difficult, imperative step” and that they must rise to the occasion to pass the plan.