* Rebels in ruling party oppose austerity measuresBy Yiorgos Karahalis and Renee MaltezouATHENS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Greek protesters halted public
transport in Athens on Thursday and moved to disrupt collection
of an unpopular new property tax in a growing wave of opposition
to harsh new austerity measures demanded by international
lenders.With the beleaguered Socialist government of Prime Minister
George Papandreou fighting to push new cuts through parliament,
protests have strengthened ahead of a planned general strike on
Oct. 19 which is expected to shut down much of the country.On Thursday, protesters occupied the printing offices of
Greek power utility PPC < DEHr.AT >, in a bid to stop
the production of electricity bills which will be used to
collect the tax on homes and other property.”We came here because we cannot allow electricity to be cut
to hundreds of thousands of poor citizens, because this is what
will happen with the law this government voted,” Nikos
Fotopoulos, president of GENOP-DEH union, told Skai television.Elsewhere, the ancient Acropolis, Greece’s most famous
monument, was closed to tourists for a second day as workers in
the archaeological service barred the entrance and Athens was
hit by strikes by garbage collectors and hospital workers.Thousands of bus drivers and metro staff marched on
parliament, angry at steep pay cuts and the growing threat of
redundancy in the traditionally protected public sector but the
protests went beyond the mass of lower paid workers.Lawyers refused to appear in court, doctors were due to
rally outside the health ministry, while a group of patients
suffering from kidney cancer rallied outside the finance
ministry, which was occupied by striking officials.The protests come as euro zone leaders scramble to put
together a new rescue plan to stave off bankruptcy and stop the
crisis spreading out of control with growing expectations that
banks will have to take steeper losses on their bond holdings.International lenders are demanding further painful reforms
but unions say the belt-tightening hurts only the poor and
middle-class and will drag Greece’s stricken economy further
into recession.”We are fully aware that this is very tough,” the European
Commission chief inspector for Greece, Matthias Mors, told the
daily Kathimerini in an interview.”But I would say that we are at a critical moment, where
Greece has to convince the international community and the other
euro area members that it is willing and able to reach the
objectives that it has committed itself to,” he said.RECESSIONAnalysts say Papandreou’s government, trailing in opinion
polls, will be able to push through parliament a package of new
austerity measures in time for a European Union summit on Oct.
23. But discontent is growing and the government is straining to
keep even its own deputies in line.”I have no intention of voting against the bill, but no one
can stop me criticising it,” said Leonidas Grigorakos, a deputy
in the ruling PASOK party. “What is taking place has no
precedent, society is in turmoil, there is huge insecurity. We
politicians must say where the country is heading.”Greece, trapped in deep recession and fighting to control a
public debt expected to reach 162
* Rebels in ruling party oppose austerity measuresBy Yiorgos Karahalis and Renee MaltezouATHENS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Greek protesters halted public
transport in Athens on Thursday and moved to disrupt collection
of an unpopular new property tax in a growing wave of opposition
to harsh new austerity measures demanded by international
lenders.With the beleaguered Socialist government of Prime Minister
George Papandreou fighting to push new cuts through parliament,
protests have strengthened ahead of a planned general strike on
Oct. 19 which is expected to shut down much of the country.On Thursday, protesters occupied the printing offices of
Greek power utility PPC < DEHr.AT >, in a bid to stop
the production of electricity bills which will be used to
collect the tax on homes and other property.”We came here because we cannot allow electricity to be cut
to hundreds of thousands of poor citizens, because this is what
will happen with the law this government voted,” Nikos
Fotopoulos, president of GENOP-DEH union, told Skai television.Elsewhere, the ancient Acropolis, Greece’s most famous
monument, was closed to tourists for a second day as workers in
the archaeological service barred the entrance and Athens was
hit by strikes by garbage collectors and hospital workers.Thousands of bus drivers and metro staff marched on
parliament, angry at steep pay cuts and the growing threat of
redundancy in the traditionally protected public sector but the
protests went beyond the mass of lower paid workers.Lawyers refused to appear in court, doctors were due to
rally outside the health ministry, while a group of patients
suffering from kidney cancer rallied outside the finance
ministry, which was occupied by striking officials.The protests come as euro zone leaders scramble to put
together a new rescue plan to stave off bankruptcy and stop the
crisis spreading out of control with growing expectations that
banks will have to take steeper losses on their bond holdings.International lenders are demanding further painful reforms
but unions say the belt-tightening hurts only the poor and
middle-class and will drag Greece’s stricken economy further
into recession.”We are fully aware that this is very tough,” the European
Commission chief inspector for Greece, Matthias Mors, told the
daily Kathimerini in an interview.”But I would say that we are at a critical moment, where
Greece has to convince the international community and the other
euro area members that it is willing and able to reach the
objectives that it has committed itself to,” he said.RECESSIONAnalysts say Papandreou’s government, trailing in opinion
polls, will be able to push through parliament a package of new
austerity measures in time for a European Union summit on Oct.
23. But discontent is growing and the government is straining to
keep even its own deputies in line.”I have no intention of voting against the bill, but no one
can stop me criticising it,” said Leonidas Grigorakos, a deputy
in the ruling PASOK party. “What is taking place has no
precedent, society is in turmoil, there is huge insecurity. We
politicians must say where the country is heading.”Greece, trapped in deep recession and fighting to control a
public debt expected to reach 162 percent of gross domestic
product this year, has struggled to get on top of a crisis which
many economists now predict will end in default.Inspectors from the EU, the International Monetary Fund and
the European Central Bank “troika” ended a review of Greece’s
progress on a first, 110-billion-euro bailout plan on Tuesday.They gave the green light for the euro zone and the IMF to
release an 8-billion euro aid tranche Greece needs to keep
paying its bills past November but said Athens needed to take
more determined action on reform in addition to more cuts.But the bitter opposition aroused has squeezed the
government hard and made it much more difficult to implement
what amount to the deepest and most painful cuts in Greece’s
postwar history.The fact that much of the impact of the cuts will fall on
public servants has complicated implementation of the plan as
workers likely to be affected themselves resist cooperating.Tax officials are due to go on strike next week while
Thursday’s occupation of the PCC printing site could hit
collection of a property tax that will hurt many ordinary people
in a country with a high level of home ownership.PPC’s management said the bills would be printed anyway, in
another venue and at a greater cost but protesters said they
would continue their protest.
