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Athens - Greek lawmakers approved a new round of drastic austerity measures late on Sunday after a long day of street battles between police and protesters left dozens injured and Athens buildings ablaze.
The deputies defied the 100 000-strong turnout in Athens and Thessaloniki and approved another round of stringent budget measures requested by Greece's international creditors in return for a multi-billion rescue fund.
"Of 278 deputies present, 199 voted for, and 74 against," Parliament Speaker Philippos Petsalnikos said after a tense vote.
Rebels from the majority socialist PASOK party and rightwing New Democracy who voted against the law were immediately expelled from their respective parties.
Deputies "will assume their responsibility" and make the most important choice of "advancing with Europe and the single currency", Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said shortly before the vote took place.
The vote, while a key hurdle, will not in itself release the much-needed funds and eurozone finance ministers who say their patience has been sorely tested by Athens are set to meet Wednesday in Brussels.
Papademos denounced the violence in the debate leading up to the vote, saying the scuffles around the parliament building had no place in a democracy.
The fire brigade said 10 buildings were set ablaze in central Athens, most of them by petrol bombs hurled by masked protesters who have been a common presence at anti-austerity marches since the crisis began.
The health ministry said 54 people were injured in the day's events.
Fire engines were initially unable to intervene because of the size of the protest and the chaos that filled the streets around the parliament building, where lawmakers debated the austerity plan ahead of a late-night vote.
When protesters wearing gas masks tried to break through the riot police cordon around parliament, the standoff broke out into running battles, with tear gas canisters and rocks flying in opposite directions.
An estimated 80,000 protesters gathered in Athens, police said, matching the biggest turnouts achieved against earlier austerity packages last year, while around 20 000 also demonstrated in the second city of Thessaloniki.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told parliament it had to back the government-approved plan to unlock a €130bn rescue fund from the EU and the IMF, or Greece would be forced to default.
"The situation is very clear. Tonight at midnight before the markets open the Greek parliament must send the message that our nation can and will (support the debt deal)," Venizelos said.
The pressure on Greece is huge as leaders in the eurozone core countries express exasperation with Athens and increasingly minimise the wider dangers of the country stumbling out of the single currency.
German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler on Sunday said the prospect of such an exit is becoming a "D-Day" that is "less scary".
Eurogroup finance ministers were meant to approve the new bailout on Thursday but balked instead on fears that Athens was short of meeting its commitments.
The EU wants all Greek political leaders to sign a formal commitment to the austerity measures before caretaker premier Papademos triggers snap elections expected in April.
The proposed measures in Sunday's vote are expected to heap more hardship on ordinary Greeks already suffering from the crisis.
They involve a 22% cut in the minimum wage (32% for workers under 25); deregulating the labour market to make it easier to lay off workers; and a package of tax and pension reforms.
Sunday's protesters included trade unionists, youths with shaven heads waving Greek flags, communist activists and left-wing sympathisers, many of them equipped with gas masks.
Many families also joined in the rally, although the square was quickly cleared after the first round of tear gas was fired, before filling up again.
They denounced what they describe as blackmail being imposed by the international troika of the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank in return for the bailout.
"It's not easy to live in these conditions," said 49-year-old engineer Andreas Maragoudakis. "By 2020 we will be the Germans' slaves."
Civil engineer Anastasia Papadaki, 27, said "the measures are not the solutions to the problem as they will not bring growth.
"It's just the international community blackmailing us."
The deputies were to also back a bond swap agreed with private creditors which will wipe out around €100bn from Greece's €350bn debt, reducing the country's massive debt burden to 120% of GDP.
Venizelos said the government must carry out the bond swap by Friday in order to have enough time to prevent a chaotic bankruptcy when Greece faces a wave of nearly €14.5bn in maturing debt on March 14.
"If that does not happen, the country will be bankrupt," Venizelos said.
