Greek bailout vote puts Syriza party rebellion to the test

Athens

GREECE'S leftist government tried on Wednesday to contain a rebellion in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' Syriza party ahead of a vote in the evening on reforms required to start talks on a rescue deal.

A first set of reforms that focused largely on tax hikes and budget discipline triggered a rebellion in Syriza last week and passed only thanks to votes from pro-EU opposition parties.

The bill lawmakers will vote late on Wednesday covers rules for dealing with failed banks and speeding up the justice system - two more conditions set by the euro zone and the IMF to open negotiations on an 86 billion euro (S$128 billion) rescue loan.

The legislation is all but certain to pass, despite planned …