One of Greece's two deputy finance ministers resigned from the leftwing government on Wednesday, July 15, ahead of a crucial vote on reforms demanded by the country's creditors in exchange for a third bailout.

In a letter to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made public by the finance ministry, Deputy Finance Minister Nadia Valavani, in charge of taxation and overseeing privatizations, said she could no longer be a member of his cabinet.

"...It is impossible to continue being a member of the government," Valavani said in the letter, explaining that austerity measures demanded for a third aid program would set the country on a moribund path.