Athens, 18/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - Article written on Sunday 17 June, before the election results came in - At the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, Primary School Number Seventy is attended by the local petit bourgeoisie, a hop, skip and a jump from Dionysiou Aeropagitou Street, one of the most prestigious addresses in Greece, where the former Greek Socialist defence minister, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, used to live, who was arrested in April this year on charges of accepting backhanders in connection with arms contracts. Voters in this part of the Greek capital are not the usual far Left types and their votes are unlikely to determine the outcome of the general elections on Sunday 17 June, unlike the more populated areas of District B on the outskirts of the city. The presence in the city centre of activists from the far Left coalition Syriza, and Communists from the KKE shows how every vote counts in an election that amounts to a referendum on whether Greece should remain in the eurozone.
Against the backdrop of the severe economic crisis in Greece for the past three years, aggravated by the slashing of public spending, extremist parties are on the rise. Led by powerful families, the traditional parties (Conservative New Democracy and Socialist PASOK), which have alternated in power since the junta was kicked out nearly 40 years ago, are accused of taking the country to the brink and obeying every diktat of the international lenders. “The big parties are in the pay of big foreign countries”, said Xaris, a 30-year-old KKE sympathiser working in the import and export of branded Italian clothing. He said election law works to the benefit of the big parties and the new election law even gives the winner of the elections an extra 50 seats to help make sure nothing changes. Xaris wonders how anyone can trust a majority government led in reality by a party that got less than 20% of the vote. The leader of New Democracy, Antonis Samaras, got 19% of the votes in the 6 May 2012 elections, but had been unable to form a coalition government with a stable majority.
Cash-flow problems. Because of an increasingly severe cash-flow problem, the Greek economy is at a standstill. Xaris said that people were paying their suppliers in cash from their own pockets, but the shops are selling less and paying people later and later. “Who cares whether our currency is called the euro or the drachma if there's no jobs?”, asked 55-year-old Elena, whose computer services shop is only two or three months old. The Greek economy has been in recession since 2009, and has seen GDP shrink by about a fifth. In the first quarter of 2012, the recession stood at -6.5% of GDP. Unemployment is rising inexorably and now stands at 22.6% of the working population and 52.7% of under 24-year-olds.
The civil service has not been spared. Sofia, a Syriza activist whose salary as a classics teacher in a secondary school was halved overnight, said: “Last year was very hard. The crisis is hitting everyone, especially the middle classes.” Like half of all Greek youngsters, her 26-year-old son is looking for work. “He's looking everywhere and will do anything, but can't find work”, she says. Xaris says the problem right now is that young people are overqualified for the handful of low-skills jobs that are all that's on offer. Dimosthemis, another Syriza activist, said: “The cuts in education and healthcare must stop right now.” People say that due to lack of cash, schools have to photocopy text books and a win for the far Left would put an end to this counter-productive austerity that is eroding the welfare state. Sofia says that this would also send a message of hope to people suffering in other countries, like Ireland, Portugal and Spain. She said she was not saying that the debt should not be repaid, but a Syriza victory would put the country in a stronger position to renegotiate.
The thing that people fear most of all is losing their homes. Homeless beggars can now be seen on the streets of Athens. Many are penniless pensioners who have been evicted and spend their days in cafes and sleep on park benches, ashamed to ask their families for help, explains Xaris. He likened the property tax introduced by the Socialist government under Papandreou (€3,000 a year for a 150 m2 flat, added to people's electricity bills) to rent changed by the state. At the same time, the vast shopping malls built without planning permission for the Athens Olympics seem to be getting off scot-free from the anti-tax evasion measures.
Concern about the arrival of the far Right. Another consequence of the crisis is the emergence of deep divisions in Greek society. The Golden Dawn far Right party is attracting unemployed youngsters and old people, using arguments about lack of security, and now has its first MPs. This reminds KKE and Syriza activists of the dark days of the military junta. Xaris says: “They are organising attacks on immigrants and attacking our activists. But we Greeks don't have any problems with immigrants - we've been immigrants ourselves.” He warns that this Greek-on-Greek violence is what led to the civil war.
Over the past two decades, Greeks were snapping up top-brand foreign products on credit, which led to Greek industry closing its factories, regrets Elena. Xaris says that Greek farmers rested on their laurels, taking money from the common agricultural policy, and now there are lemons from Argentina in the shops rather than home-growth lemons. The severity of the crisis is starting to change things, forcing Greeks to change their spending habits and buy local produce again. Xaris smiles: “My grandfather used to take me to the local market, but my mother took me to the supermarket. I take my daughter to the local market.” (MB/transl.fl)