GREECE: Thousands rally outside Greek parliament demanding the government revoke its austerity plan

Record ID: 212728

  • Title: GREECE: Thousands rally outside Greek parliament demanding the government revoke its austerity plan
  • Date: 21st May 2010
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (MAY 20, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS ARRIVING AND STANDING IN FRONT OF PARLIAMENT OVERHEAD VIEW OF PARLIAMENT AND THE THOUSANDS GATHERED IN FRONT CROWDS CLAPPING AND SHOUTING "THIEVES!" POLICE PUSHING BACK PROTESTERS POLICE FORMING CORDON AND HOLDING BACK PROTESTERS MORE OF LARGE CROWDS OF PROTESTERS POLICE PUSHING THEM BACK PROTESTERS SHOUTING IN FACES OF POLICE OFFICERS "BURN PARLIAMENT" MAN SHOUTING AND WAVING FIST IN THE AIR TOWARDS PARLIAMENT SHOUTING "THIEVES" MAN HOLDING UP HANDCUFFS IN FRONT OF PARLIAMENT SYMBOLIZING THAT CORRUPT POLITICIANS SHOULD GO TO JAIL FOR TAKING MONEY AND CAUSING THE CRISIS WOMAN BANGING POT IN FRONT OF PARLIAMENT SYMBOLIZING THE MEASURES WILL CAUSE HUNGER MORE OF OVERHEAD VIEW OF PROTESTERS AND PARLIAMENT MORE OF POLICE IN CORDON IN FRONT OF PROTESTERS PROTESTERS SITTING ON THE GROUND AND CLAPPING SHOUTING "WE WILL DISOBEY, WE WILL BE HERE EVERYDAY" MORE OF PROTESTERS ON GROUND SITTING BLOCKING STREET IN FRONT OF PARLIAMENT CLAPPING
  • Embargoed: 5th June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9JU32GYOD2KC9V8CEIHYKBIT2
  • Story Text: Thousands rally outside Greek parliament demanding the government revoke its austerity plan, shouting "thieves come out" and "parliament burn!"
    Thousands of striking Greeks marched peacefully to parliament on Thursday (May 20) in a protest against government austerity measures that was much smaller than a huge rally that led to rioting on May 5.
    Shouting "thieves! come out!" and "Parliament burn!", the protesters filled a wide, mile-long boulevard around parliament. Hundreds of riot police, armed with batons and shields, filled the steps of the neo-classical building to keep protesters from reaching the entrance.
    Some sat down on the ground shouting: "We will disobey, we will be here everyday".
    One man held up handcuffs to symbolize that corrupt politicians who have been dipping into state coffers for so many years and considered responsible for the country's large debt must go to jail. Another woman banged on a pot, in a symbolic gesture that people will be left hungry by the government's economic reform plans.
    The protest, estimated to be as many as 25,000-strong, about half the number of those who turned out for the previous big demonstration, ended peacefully after several hours.
    Anger may have receded since the shock of big government wage cuts and tax hikes that came in an agreement with the EU and IMF immediately preceding the last big protest.
    Many Greeks also said they had been put off by the raw violence of the May 5 march when three bank workers, including a pregnant woman, were killed after rioters smashed windows and lobbed petrol bombs into the branch where they worked.
    The strike was called by unions representing 2.5 million workers, half the country's workforce, who want the government to withdraw austerity measures agreed with the EU and IMF in return for a 110 billion-euro ($137 billion) emergency loan.
    Schools and government offices were shut and hospitals were operating on skeleton staff. Tourist sites such as Athens' ancient Acropolis were also closed, ships were kept in port or prevented from docking, and domestic flights were disrupted.
    Protesters said the austerity measures only hurt the poor.
    While there is palpable public anger against the measures, opinion polls show most Greeks agree reform is necessary to stem the debt crisis. But the overwhelming majority feel ordinary people are being made to pay while the rich still evade taxes.
    The Socialist Greek government has pledged to go after tax dodgers and corrupt politicians and has so far shown no sign of soft-pedalling on the austerity measures.
    Political analysts say the government may now face a period of relative calm as Greeks start fleeing the capital for the summer break next month. But come autumn, anger could rise again if incomes from tourism fall as predicted.
    The fear of being stranded by strikes or getting caught up in violent protests has chilled the tourism sector, leading to thousands of cancellations in an industry which generates nearly 20 percent of GDP and provides one in five jobs.
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