100s of Greek pensioners stage anti-austerity protests
Hundreds of Greek pensioners have taken to the streets in several
cities across the country to show their anger at austerity measures in
the debt-ridden nation. The largest of the Wednesday protest rallies was
held in the capital city of Athens, where protesters marched to the
Labor Ministry.Chanting anti-government slogans, the demonstrators asked
the country's new left-wing government to end cuts to their monthly
pensions.
Successive Greek governments "have axed our pensions and our health
care... and we will fight all the way to get them back," said Dimos
Koumbouris, a protest organizer.
The rallies came amid uncertainty about Greece's bailout program as
the anti-austerity government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras struggles
to convince the troika of international creditors -- the European
Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
European Commission that it has a credible reform plan.During his
electoral campaign, Tsipras vowed to reconsider the austerity measures
that have caused mounting dissatisfaction in the country.
The measures have forced people to endure multiple tax increases,
along with cuts in pension and salary, in exchange for bailout loans by
the international lenders.Over the past weeks, Athens and the EU have
been at loggerheads over the country’s bailout loans.The government of
Tsipras, whose leftist Syriza party stormed to victory in January 25
elections, has tried to renegotiate the terms of the country’s
€240-billion (USD 270 billion) bailout it received in 2010 in return for
imposing harsh austerity measures.
On February 20, a tentative agreement to extend Greece’s bailout
program by four months was reached during preparatory talks between
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schäuble, IMF chief Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup chairman
Jeroen Dijsselbloem.However, Greece was asked to submit a list of
proposed economic reforms to the European Union in order for the
agreement to take effect.
-AS News |