Greeks protest, almost half oppose austerity

Thousands of Greeks marched on parliament on Saturday in a show of unabated public anger after Prime Minister George Papandreou vowed to push on with an austerity campaign that a poll showed half the country opposed.

In a move meant to stifle dissent in his Socialist Party, Papandreou on Friday dismissed Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, architect of a new five-year austerity programme that has sparked weeks of protests.

The reshuffle coincided with a pledge by France and Germany to continue funding Athens, a move that may have bought Greece and its fellow euro zone members time to prevent a messy default, even if doubts over its longer-term solvency persist.

The European Union and International Monetary Fund have made the reforms a condition for a new bailout package worth an estimated 120 billion euros ($170 billion) that Greece, shut out of markets, will need to fund itself through 2014.

Around 5,000 protesters from the Communist group PAME marched into Athens' central Syntagma square -- where demonstrations turned violent earlier this week -- chanting "the measures are killing us!"

French activists also performed with a three-metre puppet depicting a bloodied figure of Lady Justice to rhythmic drumming, in a gesture of solidarity with Greek protesters who have camped in the square for three weeks.

"What has changed with the reshuffle? Nothing," said Costas, a 22-year-old student who has been camping on the square since the beginning of the month. "We are not planning to leave unless they take back the measures."

An opinion poll taken before the reshuffle showed 47.5 percent of respondents wanted parliament to reject the reform package and for Greece to hold early elections.

Just over a third -- 34.8 percent -- wanted it to be approved so Athens could secure the second bailout.

Constantinos Routzounis, head of pollsters Kapa Research, said Greeks were not against austerity in itself but thought the reforms were unfairly aimed at the poor while wealthy tax evaders and corrupt politicians got off lightly.

"People don't want Greece to exit the euro zone. They do want fiscal consolidation measures -- but more just ones," he told personally.

Greece's biggest union GSEE, representing around 2 million workers in the private sector, called for a 48-hour strike when parliament votes on what has been dubbed the mid-term plan. The government hopes that will happen by end-June.

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Greeks rage against austerity while EU argues

Striking Greeks raged against a new wave of austerity on Wednesday after euro zone finance ministers failed to agree how to make private creditors contribute to a second bailout for their indebted country.

As workers staged a national strike, thousands of protesters -- some chanting "Thieves, traitors! Where did the money go" -- massed at parliament to try to prevent lawmakers enacting more tax hikes, spending cuts and sell-offs of state property.

Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou must push through a five-year deficit reduction and privatisation programme to continue receiving aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund and avoid default after Greece fell behind on its first 110 billion euros (97.0 billion pounds) rescue plan.

In Brussels, finance ministers of the 17-nation single currency area debated late into the night how to make private bondholders share the cost of the second rescue in two years without triggering even worse turmoil in financial markets.

They are aiming for a deal at a European Union summit on June 23-24 and will meet again on Sunday evening in Luxembourg. However Tuesday's apparent impasse, and the absence of the usual news conference, sent the cost of insuring Greek debt against default rocketing to an all-time high.

Highlighting contagion risks from the Greek crisis, shares in top French banks tumbled after credit ratings agency Moody's said it might downgrade them because of their exposure to Greece's debt-stricken economy.

Greek bank stocks also fell by as much as 7 percent on growing political uncertainty.

The French government sought to deflect market pressure by noting -- perhaps pointedly in the light of differences between Paris and Berlin over the Greek bailout -- that German banks were actually more exposed.

"French banks are exposed to Greece... (but) they are less exposed than the German banking sector, for instance," Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurent Wauquiez said.

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Greek PM rebuffs austerity opponents, vows June vote

Protesters shout slogans and lift a Greek flag during a rally against austerity economic measures and corruption in Athens' Constitution square, June 9, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Pascal Rossignol

The Greek government defended its new austerity package from attacks in parliament on Friday, saying it was the only way to stave off bankruptcy, and made a new call for opposition parties to back the plan. Prime Minister George Papandreou's plan almost doubles the belt-tightening measures for 2011 already agreed with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, after the lenders judged that Athens had missed goals outlined under its bailout.
The ruling Socialist party has 156 deputies in the 300-seat house but growing numbers of its members are expressing unease at proposals including cutting spending and raising taxes to reduce the deficit by 6.5 billion euros more this year than first planned.
Papandreou is anxious to pass the plan for more austerity through 2015 despite strikes, mass street protests and dissident voices within his own ruling Socialist party.
"The medicine is not pleasant and the treatment requires devotion and commitment," he told parliament.
"No prime minister of any country wants to go out with a beggar's tray and collect money from other countries ... I certainly don't, but I do it for Greece."
Papandreou is fighting to get not only opposition parties but also his reluctant PASOK party behind the strategy, a condition for receiving more aid from international lenders who threw Greece a 110 billion euro ($160 billion) emergency funding lifeline last year.

PROTESTS AT PARLIAMENT

According to a weekly schedule released by parliament, lawmakers will start debating the midterm plan in the chamber's economic affairs committee on Wednesday.
That will coincide with a nationwide strike by labor unions expected to draw tens of thousands of demonstrators to Syntagma square, parliament's front stoop and the site of two weeks of nightly grassroots protests.
The square is also the convergence point of daily marches by staff in firms earmarked for privatization who oppose the government's pledge to raise 50 billion euros in the selloff of state-owned companies by 2015.
In a televised address to the nation, Papandreou invited proposals for the plan from opposition parties and called for cooperation to improve Athens' position in talks with Brussels ahead of a June 23-24 EU summit.
"I call on the leadership of all parties to cooperate," he said in a televised announcement. "There are many and important points where we converge. With a national consensus, we can negotiate jointly with our partners."
In a move aimed at reducing resistance by the main opposition New Democracy party to the measures, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said the government was considering submitting a new tax bill in September cutting VAT and corporate taxes and said he hoped parliament would approve the mid-term plan by the end of June.
The IMF and EU have demanded wider political consensus in Greece before they give the debt-ridden euro zone member more cash. But the main opposition groups have vowed to vote against the new measures, saying they are choking economic growth.
"The mid-term plan is unreliable, unjust and ineffective. It is a de facto confession of the failure of the bailout," New Democracy party spokesman Yannis Michelakis said in a statement.
European officials are still trying to work out a plan which hits private investors for some of the cost of the new funding plan, expected to be worth around an additional 120 billion euros including 30 billion from sales of Greek state assets.
Figures on Thursday showed the economy is in worse shape than initially feared, with gross domestic product tumbling 5.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

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