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 Angela Merkel's coalition has a big enough majority to easily win
the vote in the Bundestag lower house to extend the rescue by four
months. But many lawmakers, including Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble, have expressed concern in recent days about whether
Athens is to be trusted.
In Thursday's test ballot 22 of 311 lawmakers in chancellor Merkel's
conservative bloc, comprising her Christian Democrats (CDU) and
their Bavarian sister party, the CSU, opposed the extension and five
abstained.
Their Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners, with 193 seats,
voted unanimously for the extension in their test vote.
With the opposition Greens also expected to back it and the radical
Left party divided, the vote should easily prevail in the 631-seat
chamber, pointing to the biggest majority in the German parliament
for any euro zone rescue package so far.
Still, many lawmakers are holding their noses.
"We're doing this not because of loutish comments (from Greece) but
because it's in the interests of Germany and Europe," said Volker
Kauder, conservative parliamentary leader.
Combative Schaeuble, who has taken a tough stance with Greece, has
lobbied lawmakers to back the extension, arguing Athens is not
getting softer conditions, just more time.
But in a sign of his frustration, he told conservatives before
Thursday's test ballot that the extension could be ditched if Athens
failed to stick to its promises and remarks by the Greek finance
minister had strained European solidarity.
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Greece's Yanis Varoufakis, who agreed the bailout extension with the
euro zone in return for a package of reform pledges by his new
leftist-led government, has in the last few days revived talk of a
debt haircut and cast doubt on its ability to repay its
international debts.
Schaeuble knows the government has a tough sell to convince voters
about the package. A poll published this week showed that only 21
percent of Germans back an extension for Greece.
Top-selling Bild daily splashed a large headline "NEIN! No more
billions for the greedy Greeks!" and asked readers to hold it up,
take a picture of it and send it in to the paper.
"The real scandal is not that the Greeks make promises we want to
hear. But that Schaeuble & Co. still believe them,"wrote the paper
in an editorial.
(Additional reporting by Holger Hansen; Writing by Madeline
Chambers; Editing by Noah Barkin and Stephen Brown)
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