46 hurt in riots as Greek vote nears
Decision on austerity plans to begin today
ATHENS, Greece – Hours of rioting outside Greece’s parliament left 46 people injured Tuesday, on the eve of a vote by lawmakers to adopt more painful austerity measures – a condition for bailout funds needed to prevent a potentially disastrous default.
At least 14 people were arrested, authorities said, as youths clashed with riot police on-and-off for more than 10 hours and into the night, leaving the city center filled with tear gas and strewn with smashed-up marble paving stones. Unions had begun a 48-hour strike that shut down services and staged mass rallies through the capital in another day of chaotic protest.
The new austerity measures must be passed in a two-part vote today and Thursday if Greece’s international creditors are to release the next batch of the country’s bailout fund – and prevent a default that could drag down European banks and shake the European and world economy.
“Voting these measures is required to maintain our credibility in the (bailout) process,” Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said.
The Socialist government, which survived a revolt by party dissenters this month, is again taking them on by imposing the new punishing four-year program of spending cuts and tax hikes on even those on minimum wages – prompting anger inside parliament and out on the street. The government has a majority of just five seats in the 300-member assembly.
More than 5,000 police will again be on hand today to try and thwart plans by protesters to block lawmakers’ access to parliament.
“The austerity measures are not only harsh, not only unfair, but they are also ineffective,” Socialist critic Vasso Papandreou told parliament late Tuesday. Still, she said she would grudgingly vote for the bill.
“Greece has many problems but the real problem is the eurozone,” said Papandreou, a former EU commissioner. “Europe should be a zone of solidarity, but it is a jungle where the banks can do what they like.”
Police and health officials said 37 police officers and nine protesters were hurt in Tuesday’s clashes.