GREEK PROTESTS:Most people now accept tough measures are needed, but they question the way cuts will be implemented, writes CARL O'BRIENin Athens
ANOTHER DAY, another strike in Athens. The city’s pharmacies were shut yesterday, in protest over moves to deregulate the market. Not to be outdone, much of the Greek media also downed keyboards and TV cameras for much of the day.
By Greek standards, it constituted a lull. But as the dust settles on last week’s riots, which resulted in the deaths of three people, there are signs that many ordinary workers are slowly coming to terms with the financial crisis. Tourism chiefs say many Greeks are already bracing themselves for an austere future by cancelling planned holidays, while restaurants and cafes are reporting a decrease in trade.
“What choice do we have?” says Nick Yannoulis (33), who runs a small mobile phone and internet shop in the centre of Athens. “I’m not optimistic the demonstrations will do anything.”
Glykeria Antonaki (19), a marketing student at the Athens University of Business, also supports the protests but feels that they will achieve little.
“As times goes by, we’re more angry, more pessimistic about the future. I think we need to address our economic problems, but the measures are not fair. As for the protests? I’m not sure they’ll achieve much. We will continue to shout, but I don’t think the government will listen.”
Two new surveys appear to back up their views. They indicate a majority of people accept tough measures are needed to stave off bankruptcy – but they grumble loudly about the fairness of them.
A survey in the To Vimanewspaper indicates 55 per cent of people accept harsh austerity measures including pay cuts and tax hikes are needed. However, a similar number say they will continue to protest over the way they will be implemented.
Another survey in Kathimerininewspaper shows 77 per cent of respondents saying the measures are unfair, yet 79 per cent also say the government will carry them through.
Socialist prime minister George Papandreou’s approval ratings have fallen sharply since the government asked to activate the EU and IMF bailout plan – but he still commands a comfortable lead over the conservative opposition leader Antonis Samara.
In an attempt to assuage protesters demands that corrupt politicians blamed for the crisis be punished, Papandreou has promised action to crack down on rogue members of parliament.
Since coming to power last year, his government has talked often about justice and transparency, but no politicians have been prosecuted yet and the public is losing patience.
“We will send and we must send [corruption] cases to the prosecutor,” he said. “This is what Greek people demand.”
The deaths of three bank employees have also contributed to a lull in the intensity of protests in Athens in recent days. The shrine outside the charred Marfin Egnatia Bank branch in central Athens, where the petrol bomb attack occurred last week, continue growing by the day.
Thousands have left flowers, notes, teddy bears and candles, expressing their outrage that the protests turned deadly. Some have also placed pictures of the dead bank employees on the walls.
“Shame,” reads one handwritten sign, “to those who did this and those who encouraged such behaviour.” But, as the surveys suggest, few think the protests are over.
Demonstrations are an almost daily occurrence in Greece – even before the financial crisis. As the pain of fresh pay cuts and pension reform begins to hit home, protests are likely to be back on the streets in similar numbers.
Rembis Georgious (49), a public sector worker opposed to the cuts, feels the outrage over the deaths will only dampen tension for a while.
But he also has a more prosaic reason as to why there may be a temporary lull in demonstrations over the next few months.
“It’s almost summer,” he says. “No one strikes from June to August. It’s too hot, people are on holidays. Everything will be quiet for a few months. In September, the protests will return. You’ll see.”
In the meantime, the unions are keeping up the fighting rhetoric and are drawing up plans for more strikes – although they haven’t said when they will occur.
So far there have been three general strikes in the last three months against the government’s economic policies and a senior member of Greece’s main union has warned its members to be ready for another.
“We are on strike readiness,” Stathis Anestis, deputy general secretary of the General Confederation of Greek Workers, told reporters yesterday. “We are also envisaging another general strike.”
Students such as Orestit Michalopoulous (22), who is studying business in Athens, are also refusing to accept defeat just yet. “We won’t stop until we have justice. The easiest thing for us is to just leave the country, but I want to stay. We all need to prevent these unfair measures.”