Greek parliament adopts austerity plan

Source: BBC, Tanjug

ATHENS -- The Greek parliament has adopted drastic austerity measures, which was a eurozone countries’ condition to help Greece which is facing bankruptcy.

Police clash with protesters in Athens (Tanjug)

155 MPs voted in favor of the proposal of Prime Minister George Papandreou’s government, 138 were against while two abstained from voting.

Protesters attacked the Finance Ministry headquarters in Athens during the parliamentary voting. Around 30 people smashed windows on the ministry headquarters at downtown Syntagma Square with bars and sticks.

Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters who withdrew to surrounding streets.

Three demonstrators were injured in the latest incident.

According to news agencies, majority of MPs voted in favor of the implementation of the austerity plan aimed at saving EUR 28.4bn by 2015 and getting a new tranche of the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bail-out package.

Ruling PASOK MP Alexandros Athanasiadis voted in favor of the austerity plan even though he had said earlier that he would vote against it.

For the past two hours police have been using tear gas against the protesters who have been throwing stones at them.

Greek MPs will tomorrow vote on the law on the implementation of the planned fiscal program.

46 persons were injured in yesterday’s clashes between police and protesters.

The general strike started at midnight on Tuesday and it has completely paralyzed the country since the majority of public services are on strike.

The new austerity plan will reduce social spending and increase the country’s unemployment rate.

According to AFP, there will be new power blackouts because unions are trying to block one of the most sensitive parts of Papandreou’s austerity plan which refers to distribution of shares in the country’s power company.

Flights will once again be grounded from 08:00 until noon and from 18:00 until 22:00. Banks are closed, hospitals are taking emergency cases only and journalists have also joined the strike. Tourists are stuck in long lines at one of the busiest border crossings in Greece – Evzoni border crossing with Macedonia.

The first day of mass protest was marked by clashes between the protesters and police that lasted ten hours. 46 people were injured, 37 police officers and nine protesters. At least 14 persons were arrested.