Greece’s Alternate Finance Minister Nadia Valavani has resigned from government in protest

GREECE’S Alternate Finance Minister has resigned in protest over the austerity measures the country is asked to implement in exchange for a bailout.

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos gestures as he attends a parliament session in Athens, on July 15, 2015. Greece geared up for a parliamentary vote on draconian reforms demanded by eurozone creditors in exchange for a huge new bailout, just hours after a bombshell report from the International Monetary Fund criticised the deal. AFP PHOTO / ANGELOS TZORTZINIS

GREECE’S Alternate Finance Minister Nadia Valavani has resigned from government in protest over the austerity measures the country is asked to implement in exchange for a bailout.

Arriving in Parliament, Valavani said she was not going to vote in favour of the agreement, and that this meant she could not stay on as part of the government.

Earlier, Greece’s finance ministry released a letter she had sent to the prime minister on Monday morning, saying that if he returned from Brussels having made commitments for harsh austerity measures she would be unable to continue as a member of the government.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to a deal Monday morning under which Greece must pass through parliament harsh austerity measures his left-wing government had long battled against in return for the start of negotiations on a third bailout of about 85 billion euros.