Athens - Greece's ruling conservative government, under the leadership of Costas Karamanlis, survived a censure motion in parliament Friday over a pension reform bill which has prompted a wave of nationwide strikes and protest. Members of Greeces 300-seat parliament voted 152-138 against the no confidence motion which was tabled by the main opposition Socialist PASOk party. Ten deputies abstained from the vote which took place at midnight.
The vote followed three days of debate over the bill aimed at overhauling the country's debt-ridden pension system, which risks going bankrupt in 20 years.
The prime minister has made reforming the countrys cash-strapped pension system one of his governments top priorities since his re-election in September.
Unions representing nearly 3 million public and private sector workers have launched a wave of strikes over the past few months to protest proposed pension reforms, which look to increasing retirement ages while cutting benefits to millions of future retirees.
Workers claim the state has depleted the system by taking money from pension funds and not paying out what it has collected from workers over the years.
