48-hour strike paralyses Greece ahead of austerity vote

Athens: The ongoing European sovereign debt crisis has come to a boil with a 48-hour general strike paralyzing Greece on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of workers walked off the job ahead of a critical vote in parliament on government spending reductions the country must undertake to avoid default.

The five-year, euro 28 billion austerity plan is seen as critical to the financial stability of Europe's 17-member currency bloc. The general strike has been called by Greece's two major umbrella unions who oppose the measures.

The austerity plan and related privatization programme has to be approved by Greece so that it can receive fresh aid from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund.

The Socialist Party of embattled prime minister George Papandreou controls a majority of 155 deputies in Greece's 300-member parliament, but what has given jitters to the European financial markets is the fact that at least four of these Socialists lawmakers have expressed reservations about the package.

Papandreou, meanwhile, has appealed to the country's European partners to give Greece time and money to fix its public finances. "Now is the hour of responsibility for all of us. I know that the Socialist parliamentary group will do its duty," Papandreou said. "We call on Europe to do the same--to give Greece the time, but also the terms, that will enable it to truly repay its debt without drowning."

His remarks came at the start of a two-day parliamentary debate over the austerity plan which will culminate in a vote midday Wednesday.