Mayhem in Athens

By: Barnaby Phillips
Source: Al Jazeera
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/europe/2010/03/05/mayhem-athens


Our Athens bureau overlooks the Greek parliament. It’s a fantastic location, in the heart of the city, close to many important offices and government ministries. It also gives us a grandstand view of the demonstrations that frequently wind through the city centre, and end in parliament square.

These days, as the government pushes ahead with its austerity programme, the demonstrations are almost daily affairs. And, sometimes, like today, they turn ugly.

It was mayhem out there for about half an hour, and we looked down on demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles at the police, who responded with volleys of tear gas. There seem to have been a couple of high-profile injuries. Greek TV showed union leader Yiannis Pannagopoulos being punched, apparently by another member of the crowd. And a prominent figure of the Greek left, Manolis Glezos, was carried away injured, apparently after being tear-gassed in the face.

Mr Glezos's first, and arguably greatest claim to fame, came back in 1941, when he and another student scaled the Acropolis in the middle of the night and tore down the Swastika flag, symbol of the hated Nazi occupation. It was an act of incredible courage, that inspired not only Greeks, but also people across all of occupied Europe.

There’s a certain irony to Mr Glezos being injured today, with the war of words that has broken out between the Greek and German press, much of it alluding to the Nazi-occupation, (see my earlier blog post, Don’t Mention the War), and even some politicians, and with the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Berlin for talks with Angela Merkel about the economic crisis. A recent piece in the Guardian has a nice colourful reference to Mr Glezos.

Meanwhile, a couple of important political developments to watch out for here in Greece; an opinion poll for the Skai Television Channel suggests, for the first time, a majority opposed to the new austerity measures.

It’s perhaps a little soon to draw any conclusions, but it’s important to watch what "the silent majority" of Greeks feel. Until now, opinion polls indicated most Greeks supported the government, and agreed that drastic measures needed to be taken.

If that is changing, the pressure on the government will increase. And, another sign that the consensus may be fraying; the main opposition party, the centre-right New Democracy, says it does not support the latest cuts.

The governing PASOK has the numbers in parliament to push legislation through, (and, indeed, the latest austerity plan was approved today) but if the cross-party consensus really is over, then George Papandreou’s position has just become a little bit more uncomfortable.