THE NUMBER of Greeks protesting in Athens’ Syntagma Square against austerity measures, reached an estimated 60,000 on Sunday, the highest of 12 consecutive days of demonstrations.
People arrived from as far away as Crete to join the group that calls itself the ‘Indignant Citizens’ and has no links to unions or the political parties.
Organisers had hoped to get as many as 100,000 people to Syntagma Square, outside parliament, on Sunday but although they failed to meet this target, the demo had enough of an impact for the Prime Minister to call a cabinet meeting yesterday. There must be serious concern about public anger and discontent in the PASOK government which must fear the possibility of protests getting out of control.
There was an indication of what might happen last week, when the crowd blocked MPs from leaving parliament and shouted abuse at them. For now, the proposed austerity measures are under discussion, but what will happen when the government starts implementing them? There may be more than 100,000 protesters outside parliament when the public sector job cuts are made and the new taxations imposed so that Greece saves an extra €6.4 billion this year.
Without the measures to make the extra savings possible the international bail-out funding will be suspended, in which case the Greek state will be bankrupt. It will not be able to pay any state employee and will be unable to borrow money from the financial markets. Its current two-year borrowing cost is a staggering 25 per cent per year which means the markets are not an option.
Are the Indignant Citizens aware of the complete lack of options? The anger and frustration of people, who have seen their standard of living plummet and their job prospects vanish, is perfectly understandable, but they also have to accept that the PASOK government is powerless. It is essentially begging for loans in order to keep the Greek state afloat and the lender is setting the terms. The alternative to a new bout of austerity measures is much worse. If Greece does receive the funding there would be food riots in Athens.
The problem is that rational arguments mean nothing to desperate people who have nothing to lose. This is why it is so important for the political parties to be united during these extraordinarily difficult times, the effects of which are similar to those of a war. Only a united political front might quell the public unrest that is certain to become more extreme over the next few months. And it could reach a stage when the authorities are unable to control the angry crowds.
