ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Deputy Labour minister Nikos Nikolopoulos has resigned saying the government was not forceful enough in pushing lenders for changes to a bailout plan, the state-run Athens news agency said on Monday, in a setback to the conservative-led coalition.
"The sole reason of my resignation is my personal conviction that the issue of renegotiating with the troika, as well as the correction of significant distortions in labour, pension, social security and welfare issues, should have been emphatically put on the table from the start," an excerpt from his resignation letter read, according the news agency.
A labour ministry official confirmed the minister had submitted his resignation but government officials could not confirmed whether it had been accepted.
After demanding a long list of changes to Greece's latest rescue package when it took power last month, the three-party coalition has struck a more conciliatory tone towards lenders in recent days by promising to carry out a host of reforms before asking for a renegotiation of the package.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou, Writing by Deepa Babington)
