ATHENS — Parliament appeared close to approving and carrying out a set of unpopular austerity measures after a day of intense political maneuvering on Tuesday that seemed to bring wavering members of the ruling Socialist Party into line. 
 
 While the lawmakers debated, riot police clashed with protesters outside the Parliament building. Parliament must pass the measures — which include wage cuts, tax increases and privatizations in a recession-starved country — before Greece’s foreign lenders unlock the next installment of aid that the country needs to avoid default. 
 
 Prime Minister George A. Papandreou has a five-vote parliamentary majority as he tries to push through the austerity plan, which strikes at the heart of his Socialist Party base. The center-right New Democracy opposition party has struck a populist tone and opposes the measures, saying they offer too much austerity and not enough stimulus. 
 
 In the tense countdown ahead of the vote to approve the austerity package, which is scheduled for Wednesday, at least one member of Parliament from the Socialist Party who had opposed the bill changed his mind. 
 
 The lawmaker, Thomas Robopoulos, told state television on Tuesday that he would support the measures, “putting the national interest above everything else.” Earlier, Mr. Robopoulos had said he would decide “at the very last moment, after I have listened to all the speakers,” referring to the debate in Parliament. 
 
 “This is a crucial moment; if the memorandum does not pass we shall go bankrupt,” Mr. Robopoulos added. 
 
 He spoke after talks with the new finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, a longtime Socialist who is regarded as being able to rally the party behind the measures, however unpopular. 
 
 The nation’s unions complicated matters on Tuesday when they began a 48-hour general strike — the first time they had walked out for more than 24 hours since democracy was restored to Greece in 1974 after a seven-year military dictatorship. 
 
 The protests in Syntagma Square in front of Parliament began peacefully but turned violent as groups of youths on the fringes began throwing rocks, firebombs and firecrackers. 
 
 The European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have said they will release $17 billion that Greece needs to pay its expenses through the summer if Parliament passes the measures. 
 
 “The only way to avoid immediate default is for Parliament to endorse the revised economic program,” said Olli Rehn, the European Union’s top economic and monetary affairs official. “Let me say this clearly: There is no Plan B to avoid default.” 
 
 In Brussels, European Union officials said they were working on contingency plans, including an effort to persuade the Greek opposition leader Antonis Samaras of the New Democracy Party to support the measures. 
 
 After the vote on the austerity measures, Parliament is scheduled on Thursday to consider a bill on how each of the measures will be carried out. Last year, Greece’s foreign lenders imposed austerity measures after they provided a first round of aid. 
 
 Since then, Greece has cut the wages of its 800,000 public workers — a quarter of the work force — by more than 10 percent. 
 
 The demonstration on Tuesday was one of the first in which labor unions joined with the younger demonstrators who have gathered in downtown Athens every night for the past month. Security forces fired tear gas to thin out the crowd, sending the demonstrators fleeing into side streets. 
 
 A police official said that 23 people were detained, with five later arrested, and that 21 officers were injured, none seriously. 
 
 Near Syntagma Square, a 40-year-old woman who gave her name only as Eirini, said she had been a secretary in a construction firm but had been out of work for more than five months. 
 
 “I’m here because we have nothing to lose,” she said, pushing down the surgical mask she used to filter out the tear gas. “We know very well that in six months, when they run out of money in the banks, we will be even more broke and hungry.” 
 
 She added, “I think that in one year, we are going to go to Syntagma, take out all the grass and plant tomatoes.” ||||| Anti-austerity protesters set up roadblocks as they attempt to block streets leading to the parliament in Athens June 29, 2011. Greece's parliament looked increasingly likely to approve unpopular austerity measures on Wednesday, despite violent protests, to secure international funds to prevent the euro zone's first sovereign default. 
 
 ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police firing tear gas fought running battles with stone-throwing protesters outside parliament on Wednesday as signs grew the government would succeed in pushing through an austerity plan demanded by creditors. 
 
 With Greece risking bankruptcy if the measures are blocked, parliament was due to vote in the afternoon on the mix of spending cuts, tax increases and privatizations to be implemented as conditions for a massive bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. 
 
 Tens of thousands of protesters, many of them waving Greek flags and beating drums, packed Syntagma Square outside parliament as a 48-hour general strike that began on Tuesday brought central Athens to a standstill. 
 
 "Dissolve parliament," read one banner. 
 
 Demonstrations turned violent for a second day when a surge in the crowd overturned metal barriers, forcing back a line of riot police, who responded with flash bombs and tear gas. 
 
 "Cops, pigs, murderers!" chanted the crowd at a line of white-helmeted riot police as tear gas projectiles turned the air outside parliament white. A line of protesters joined hands in a traditional Greek dance in front of police lines. 
 
 Inside parliament, the government of Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou inched closer to securing the majority it needs to pass the law as a member of the conservative opposition said she would vote for the 28 billion euro ($39.7 billion) package. 
 
 Late on Tuesday, one of three rebel Socialist (PASOK) lawmakers climbed down, saying he would support the measures. 
 
 "I have made the decision to vote for the plan because national interests are more important than our own dignity," the deputy, Thomas Robopoulos, told Reuters. 
 
 A parliamentary official said the vote would probably take place between 2 and 5 p.m. (1100-1400 GMT). 
 
 One communist deputy was pelted with yoghurt as protesters tried to block several avenues around parliament to prevent the vote. At least three people were treated for minor injuries as protesters skirmished with police. 
 
 The communist-affiliated PAME labor group held a rally in the morning and several other meetings were expected during the day, culminating in a major demonstration by public service union ADEDY and private sector union GSEE at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT). 
 
 Greece's central bank governor, George Provopoulos, warned that a "no" vote would be suicidal for Greece. 
 
 "For parliament to vote against this package would be a crime - the country would be voting for its suicide," he told the Financial Times. 
 
 BITTER RESENTMENT 
 
 The measures demanded by international lenders as the price for continuing to support Athens have wrought bitter resentment in a Greek population coping with the deepest recession since the 1970s and now facing years of grim austerity. 
 
 Another PASOK rebel, Panagiotis Kouroublis, said he still objected to the plan but declined to say whether he would vote against it. "I will speak to the parliament later and you will hear what I have to say," he told Alter TV. "Nothing is more important than my dignity and my love for my country." 
 
 The Socialists hold a narrow majority with 155 seats in the 300-member legislature and with Robopoulos, the most prominent of a handful of potential rebels, backtracking on his opposition, chances of the vote going through improved. 
 
 In a sign of growing optimism on financial markets about the outcome, Greek bank stocks opened up 3 percent on Wednesday, while Greek bond yields fell. 
 
 However, even with approval on Wednesday, there will still be a risk of lawmakers rejecting detailed austerity bills in votes on Thursday on the implementation of different elements of the plan, such as tax rises and the sale of state assets. 
 
 "Will there be a way to compensate households for the heating fuel increase? Will there be exemptions for agriculture to help it be competitive? I am waiting for answers to see what I will do in the implementation law," said Socialist MP Mihalis Tzelepis, reflecting the anger within the party. 
 
 The EU and the IMF have said the entire plan must be passed this week for Greece to obtain the next, 12 billion euro ($17.3 billion) tranche of emergency loans under the bailout. 
 
 Greek officials have said the country needs the money by mid-July to continue paying its debts. 
 
 Despite heavy international pressure, the center-right opposition declared it would vote against the package but close attention was being paid to a splinter group of conservative deputies led by former foreign minister Dora Bakoyanis. 
 
 Bakoyanis, who broke party ranks to vote in favor of Greece's first EU/IMF bailout last year, said on Wednesday she would abstain from voting this time. The other four deputies in her group would vote according to their consciences. 
 
 "The government cannot govern and apply the program and the political opposition is lying, this is the problem. It does not dare to tell people that there are no magic solutions, that sacrifices are necessary," Bakoyanis said. 
 
 (Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Ingrid Melander; writing by James Mackenzie and Daniel Flynn; editing by Mark Heinrich) ||||| Groups of youths on the edge of a major anti-austerity protest in Athens threw rocks and firebombs at police outside Parliament, where the struggling government sought support for new cutbacks required to avoid a debt default. 
 
 Police arrest a demonstrator trying to block the road to the Parliament during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, in central Athens, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour anti-austerity strike... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police arrest a demonstrator trying to block the road to the Parliament during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, in central Athens, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour anti-austerity strike... (Associated Press) 
 
 A demonstrator argues with a police officer outside the Greek Parliament during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, in central Athens, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour anti-austerity... (Associated Press) 
 
 A protester plays a flute next to a police officer outside of the Greek Parliament in central Athens, prior to a rally against plans for new austerity measures, on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters paint graffiti outside of the Greek Parliament in central Athens, prior to a rally against plans for new austerity measures, on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour strike by Greece's largest... (Associated Press) 
 
 A lone protester, covered by a plastic sheet, fixes his shoe after spending the night at Syntagma square in front of the Greek Parliament in central Athens, prior to a rally against plans for new austerity... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police arrest a demonstrator trying to block the road to the Parliament during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, in central Athens, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour anti-austerity strike... (Associated Press) 
 
 Demonstrators gesture outside the Parliament during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, in central Athens, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour anti-austerity strike by Greece's largest labor... (Associated Press) 
 
 Demonstrator shouts slogans outside the Parliament in central Athens, during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour strike by Greece's largest labor unions... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters gesture and wave Greek flags front of the Parliament during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, in central Athens, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour anti-austerity strike by... (Associated Press) 
 
 Riot police block the entrance of the Greek Parliament in central Athens, prior to a rally against plans for new austerity measures, on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour strike by Greece's largest labor... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police arrest a demonstrator who tried to block the road to the Parliament during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, in central Athens, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour anti-austerity... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters holding Greek flags face the police in front of the Parliament during a rally against plans for new austerity measures, in central Athens, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour anti-austerity... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters paint graffiti outside of the Greek Parliament in central Athens, prior to a rally against plans for new austerity measures, on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A 24-hour strike by Greece's largest... (Associated Press) 
 
 A lone protester, top left, challenges Greek riot police officers as they walk past Syntagma square in front of the Greek Parliament in central Athens, during a peaceful rally against plans for new austerity... (Associated Press) 
 
 At a rally of more than 20,000 in the Syntagma Square, police responded with tear gas to push the protesters away from barricades erected to protect the Parliament building and the lawmakers arriving to debate the new austerity plan. 
 
 Other demonstrators who had been part of the previously peaceful gathering also clashed with the violent groups of hooded youths, trying to eject them from their rally. 
 
 The protests were part of a 24-hour general strike against the new cutbacks, which the country must pass in order to continue receiving funding from a euro110 billion international bailout that is preventing it from defaulting on its debts. 
 
 A large part of central Athens was closed to all traffic and pedestrians as police mounted a huge security operation to allow lawmakers access to Parliament by car. Some 5,000 officers, including hundreds of riot and motorcycle police, used parked buses and crowd barriers to prevent protesters from encircling the building. 
 
 "Resign, resign," the crowd chanted outside Parliament. The protesters included both young and old, and many brought their children, hoisting them onto their shoulders to shield them from the crush. 
 
 Two separate marches organized by trade unions joined the rally in Syntagma. Such demonstrations have often turned violent in the past _ three clerks died when rioters torched their bank in Athens last May. 
 
 But the latest austerity drive has brought many people onto the streets for the first time. 
 
 "What can we do? We have to fight, for our children and for us," said Dimitra Nteli, a nurse at a state hospital who was at the protest with her daughter. "After 25 years of work I earn 1,100 euros a month. Now that will drop to 900. How can we live on that?" 
 
 Her 26-year-old daughter, Christina, said the situation in Greece had led her to leave for the U.K. to study conflict resolution. 
 
 "I have no job here. There are no prospects," she said. 
 
 Police spokesman Athanassios Kokalakis said 10 protesters were briefly detained. About a hundred people booed and heckled as cars carrying Prime Minister George Papandreou and President Karolos Papoulias swept past for a meeting. 
 
 The general strike crippled public services across the country, leaving state hospitals running on emergency staff, disrupting port traffic and public transport, and forced radio and television news programs off the air during the morning. Journalists' unions called off their strike to cover developments in Athens. 
 
 Flights were also operating normally after the air traffic controllers' union dropped out of the strike. 
 
 "They keep asking us to give more," said Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary of the civil servants' union ADEDY. "Now, again, they will cut our salaries and bonuses, from the little that we have left." 
 
 The government needs to pass a new 2012-2015 austerity program worth euro28 billion ($40.5 billion) this month _ or face being cut off from the rescue loans from European countries and the International Monetary Fund. 
 
 To meet their commitments, Papandreou's Socialists' abandoned a pledge not to impose new taxes and have drawn up a four-year privatization program worth euro50 billion ($72 billion) _ further fueling protests against austerity by public utility employees and other affected groups. 
 
 Some governing party lawmakers have publicly criticized the new cuts. One of them defected on Tuesday, reducing Papandreou's parliamentary majority to five in the 300-seat legislature. Another Socialist lawmaker said he will vote against the bill, which is set for final approval by early next month. 
 
 Papandreou faces an open revolt from his own party and a refusal by the main opposition conservatives to back the new austerity bills, despite EU pressure for cross-party support. 
 
 Papandreou met with the president to discuss how to solve the crisis. 
 
 "A national effort is required. Because we are at a historically crucial moment and a time of crucial decisions," Papandreou told Papoulias, adding that he was still in contact with opposition party leaders in an effort to garner cross-party support for the austerity drive. 
 
 "But on the other hand, everyone has to assume their responsibilities," Papandreou told the president, according to a transcript of their conversation released by the prime minister's office. "In any case, we will move forward with this sense of responsibility and the necessary decisions" to pull Greece out of the crisis. 
 
 The statements calmed concern, voiced mainly in the local media, that the prime minister might have been considering calling early elections. 
 
 The Socialists' popularity plummeted in recent weeks over the new austerity plan. A weekend opinion poll gave the main opposition conservatives a four-point lead over their Socialist rivals, the first time the party has been ahead in surveys since 2009. The next general election is scheduled for October 2013. 
 
 With its credit rating deep in junk status, Greece is being kept afloat by the EU and IMF bailout, but will need additional support to cover financing gaps next year as high interest rates will prevent it from tapping the bond market next year, contrary to what the original bailout agreement had predicted. 
 
 On Monday night, Standard & Poor's slashed Greece's rating from B to CCC, dropping it to the very bottom of the 131 states that have a sovereign debt rating. That suggests Greece's creditors are less likely to get their money back than those of Pakistan, Ecuador or Jamaica. 
 
 ____ 
 
 Nicholas Paphitis, Derek Gatopoulos, Petros Giannakouris and Lefteris Pitarakis in Athens contributed.
– Things got ugly in the streets of Athens today, as Greece’s parliament began voting on austerity measures—needed to keep the nation out of default—that looked increasingly likely to pass. Police firing tear gas fought what Reuters describes as “running battles” with protesters, who threw firebombs, rocks, and firecrackers, and knocked over barricades. Other protesters remained peaceful—one group broke into a traditional dance in front of police lines. One of the two remaining members of the ruling Socialist Party publicly opposing the austerity measures changed his mind today, as did one opposition legislator. That stoked expectations that the bill will pass and had European stock markets climbing, the New York Times reports. Protesters, naturally, were less enthused. “They’ll be the worst criminals in history” if the vote passes, one 57-year-old pharmacist opined. “We want to see them hanged.”