The Greek left-wing leader says international creditors have committed a “crime” against austerity-hit southern Europe.
Referring to a bill passed on Sunday by Greek lawmakers, Syriza party’s leader Alexis Tsipras described it as “a crime committed against the people and our country.”
The bill was required by the country’s troika of international lenders — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — that have bailed out debt-ridden Greece in return for implementation of harsh austerity measures in the country.
Tsipras also blamed Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras for being “the main administrator of the death contract against Greek society.”
“You are passing a sweeping 600-pages multi-bill with which you are signing away the banking system and you are abolishing labor rights and the public insurance system,” he said.
The politician believes the creditors knowingly led Greece to the greatest humanitarian disaster through faulty fiscal calculations.
He also said the creditors must pay reparations for hardships endured under austerity regimes.
Meanwhile, Greek authorities have banned anti-austerity demonstrations in central Athens.
The ban was imposed ahead of meetings of European Union finance ministers who will discuss Greece’s austerity plan and market reforms on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Labor unions and leftwing groups have urged people to participate in demonstrations on Tuesday outside the prohibited area; however, it is not clear whether the protesters would try to enter the area.
Greece has been the scene of countless protests against crippling austerity measures since 2010 when a vicious financial crisis struck the country and later developed into an economic recession.
The country has been widely relying on international rescue loans since 2010.
MSM/AS/MAM
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