Greeks protest EU-IMF required economic reforms
Thousands of Greek people have held protest rallies just ahead of the parliament's vote on a controversial tax and pensions overhaul bill.
An estimated 15,000 people turned out to march in the capital Athens and the second city of Thessaloniki on Sunday, protesting the government’s imminent adoption of measures demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The demonstrators expressed their opposition to the "painful measures" which they said could lead to the dissolution of social security system in Greece.
“People are tired and disappointed by the leftist government in power,” said a protester in reference to the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who came to power in early 2015 on promises of distancing Greece from EU’s economic policy.
Many lamented the relatively low turnout as the action was meant to affect an upcoming meeting of eurozone creditors in Brussels on Monday. Some demonstrators attributed the reduced numbers to Orthodox Easter holidays.
Riot police forces, deployed to contain the protests, fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators in Athens.
The march was organized by a union affiliated with the Greek Communist Party, known as PAME, with police reports suggesting a total of 11,000 supporters of the party showed up in Athens and Thessaloniki for the rally.
The protest came hours before the parliament was to vote on the reforms bill. Tsipras has pushed forward the vote in the hope that international lenders would rapidly deal with Greece debt reduction.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said earlier in the day that Greece has “basically achieved” the goals of reforms required by the creditors.
“We are now at the time of the first review of the program (to aid Greece) and the objectives have been basically achieved," Juncker said.
The austerity measures are part of a package demanded by the EU and IMF in exchange for a huge 86-billion euro bailout for Greece agreed last July.
The debt-crippled nation has been in a state of economic crisis since 2009.
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