Nurses and farmers together on the street: Greece pension reform debate begins
Nurses and farmers together on the street: Greece pension reform debate begins
Farmers vowed to step up protests, nurses took to the streets and sailors prepared to strike as anger simmered in Greece over further pension cutbacks.
Amid rallies and protests across the country, Greece’s politicians were scheduled to launch discussions in parliament on Tuesday on reforms seeking to cut 1.8 billion euros from its annual pensions bill.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a leftist who swept to power a year ago, is walking a political tightrope to keep lenders onside to complete an overdue review of reforms, without alienating his electorate altogether.
‘This issue must be resolved,’ said Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, head of ANEL, the junior governing coalition partner. ‘This government will solve the pension issue, others merely paid lip service to it.’
Farmers who have been blocking motorways across the country sporadically for days in protest at plans to cut tax breaks for farming as well as pensions said they would escalate action and bring the country to a standstill unless Tsipras backed down.
‘We will step up action by blocking roads, ports and customs offices for more hours,’ Vagelis Boutas, head of a national committee coordinating the farmer protests, said.
Government officials say the pension system, which costs about 28.5 billion euros ($A44.3 billion) a year, is in need of a total overhaul before it faces collapse.
Mission chiefs from the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the euro zone rescue fund and the International Monetary Fund are due in Athens later this week to start the bailout review. – reports Reuters
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