GREECE: Greeks, angry with austerity that changed their traditional lifestyle, head for a highly uncertain election that may not produce a clear winner and could plunge the country into new political chaos

Record ID: 327759

  • Title: GREECE: Greeks, angry with austerity that changed their traditional lifestyle, head for a highly uncertain election that may not produce a clear winner and could plunge the country into new political chaos
  • Date: 6th May 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ANTONIS KALOGIANNIS, 44, LOCAL RESIDENT SAYING: "I don't know yet who I will vote for. I think very few things will change. In my view, the path we are on at the moment is not a new one. We started on this path not just in 2009 but long before." VARIOUS ELECTION POSTERS FOR NEW DEMOCRACY AND COMMUNIST PARTY (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ANTIGONE MARIOLI, 22, STUDENT SAYING: "I feel hopeful because I am young, and young people must have dreams. We should never lose our optimism, but for that to happen we must make an effort. We shouldn't just sit at home on our sofas saying that nothing will change." CARS DRIVING IN STREET
  • Embargoed: 21st May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA247IWYN2FMB90X01I1CSW366L
  • Story Text: Greek voters, enraged by economic hardship, are set to punish traditional parties in a highly uncertain election on Sunday (May 6) that could plunge the country into new political turmoil.
    In a small fishing town of Lavrio, 60 kilometres south of Athens, once a thriving market venue, fishermen were talking about harsh reality the country's austerity status has brought into their lives.
    Sixty-four-year-old Nikos Kritikos has been a fisherman in Lavrio all his life.
    For the last 40 years he was leaving the port at three in the morning to get his catch in town for early morning trade.
    He said people would queue on the pier to be the first to buy fresh fish to put on the table. Now just a few customers can afford to buy it even at the highly reduced prices the fishermen were asking.
    "Our life has changed because people don't have money to get around, to buy a kilo of fish so that we can earn from our job. We have all these costs to bear and we just can't get by. It's very hard. I've been here since early morning trying to sell my catch, I couldn't sell it all and now I have to give it away almost for nothing. Two years ago, i would sell it for 35 euros a kilo, and now we are forced to give it away practically for nothing," Kritikos said.
    In the last two years they had to cut the prices by up to 50 percent and still hardly makemeet. If things don't change, he added, he would have to sell his boat as he will be unable to maintain it.
    The port is home to some fifty fishing boats all facing same problems.
    Vasilis Sayakos, 42, went into the fishing business for the love of the sea.
    A university trained dentist, he quit ten years ago and moved, with his wife, to Lavrio, bought a boat and felt happy and liberated, as he put it, to sail into the sea in the early hours of the morning.
    But his life has changed dramatically in the last two years. The demand for fish has dried out. He has a wife and two daughters to support. His wife has lost her job in the private sector three months ago and failing to find a new one has started helping Vasilis with fishing.
    He says he feels angry with the Greek politicians for allowing the situation go that far and letting the nation plunge into poverty.
    Asked about his hopes for the Sunday elections he said he had none.
    "Nothing will change because I think the Greeks will vote again for the same people. If we don't change the political status quo in Greece, nothing will change. This government drove us to this situation. Now they tell us to vote for them to save us! This is ridiculous! And personally, me, I don't feel so stupid to vote for them again," Vasilis said.
    Today's catch brought him just 30 euros as his net has been damaged by the dolphins who often steal the fish from the fishermen. He spent 20 euros on fuel and will face a hefty repair cost for the net.
    But not everyone in the port of Lavrio blames Greece's political establishment for the country's misfortune. Katerina Psarra, aged 58, who came to the port to help her husband, said Greeks should take a more realistic approach to life and start living according to their means.
    "Many people don't understand that we lived beyond our means for many years. That's a fact. We lived beyond our means, we were spoiled. The Greeks became spoiled and now it's hard to go back to hardship," Katerina said.
    She added she would go to vote on Sunday for one of the main parties and hoped the situation would change to the better soon.
    Her optimism was shared by Antigone Marioli, a 22-year-old student.
    "I feel hopeful because I am young, and young people must have dreams. We should never lose our optimism, but for that to happen we must make an effort. We shouldn't just sit at home on our sofas saying that nothing will change," she said.
    Sunday polls are seen as crucial for the country's future. At stake is whether Greece will stick to the harsh terms of a hugely unpopular international bailout agreement agreed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
    Greeks will choose from a total of 32 parties and independent candidates including lawyers, doctors, celebrities and athletes.
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