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Vote of confidence from the Parliament, the discontented built symbolic gallows for the Greek government

22 June 2011 / 11:06:03  GRReporter
3307 reads

Anastasia Balezdrova 

The Greek government got a vote of confidence from the Parliament with 155 votes "for" and 143 "against". At the same time, thousands of citizens out of the guarded by hundreds of policemen building gave a "vote of no confidence" and chanted that the politicians will not find a single voting-paper in the ballot-boxes in the next elections.  

The flow of discontented citizens to Syntagma was increasing with the approaching of midnight, when a named vote of confidence was held. A few thousand citizens protesting against the government came to the Parliament. "Thieves," "Take your Memorandum and get out of here," "Air, air, to remove the cholera", "The gallows are coming" are a small part of the slogans of protesters who combined them with disparaging and offensive gestures.

In the sound of drums a group of youths was staying in front of the police, guarding the entrance to the Parliament at the Vasilisis Sofiyas Avenue. They were holding slogans that urged the police officers to stop guarding the lawmakers and join them. They chanted mockingly: "Your mothers and fathers are on the square. What are you waiting for? Spray tear gas at them." An indignant woman turned to the police officers: "Why are you guarding the lawmakers?".

Some enthusiasts tried to cause small clashes, but after the intervention of the group of "peacekeepers" the situations got under control. A group of musicians was walking around the square, raising the "revolutionary" spirit of the discontented with songs, dances and the popular slogan "Bread, education, freedom - the junta did not end in '73."

Meanwhile, the front side of the Parliament had become a screen illuminated by tens of green coloured laser lights. Suddenly there appeared a great sign of red lights that read "Thieves." The voice of a representative of the "National Assembly on the Square" echoed from the loudspeakers and urged the protesters to raise their voices to be heard by the lawmakers in the building.

The laser lights illuminated the foreign media cameras that shoot from the roofs of the hotels located around the square. A gallows appeared too and the pictures of the Prime Minister Papandreou, who was presented as "employee of the year" of the International Monetary Fund and the former Minister of Finance George Papakonstantinou - "employee of the decade" of the U.S. bank Goldman Sachs were on a central place.

The slogans "The government is illegal" and "People are talking now" did not calm down until the start of the vote. Then, the voice from the loudspeakers started to announce the names of those who voted "for", each of whom was booed and declared persona non grata. "We will not allow them move freely in their election districts. People do not forget" the loudspeakers echoed and thousands of voices became as one in the slogans.

After the vote a significant number of the discontented left the square, but hundreds of others stayed. They said they do not give up their protest, which continued for 29 days. Tomorrow, the discontented on Syntagma Square expect to be joined by the discontented of Sparta, who left at 20:30 on Sunday and walked the distance of 255 km to Athens on foot.

The protests are expected to increase by the end of the month to prevent the Parliament from adopting the mid-term plan for the Greek economy. The discontented intend to make a human chain around the Parliament. During the same period the union employees in the private sector will hold its first 48-hour strike after the military dictatorship in 1974.

Tags: PoliticsSocietyVote of confidenceParliamentGovernmentDiscontentedProtestsSlogans
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