People’s Protests in Greece

 

 

On the prospect of early general elections, the KKE leader stressed

that it would barely ripple the water if the unhappiness with the

ruling New Democracy turned into a vote for main opposition, PASOK,

To a question on whether the KKE would vote for the

establishment of a parliamentary preliminary investigation committee on

the Vatopedi Monastery-State land transactions affair, Papariga

explained that if presumptive evidence of criminal responsibility

arose, her party would back the establishment of such a committee.

 

Replying to questions, Papariga said that the state suppression and the

hooded troublemakers “are on the same side.” They are connected,

mutually fuel each other and their target is to terrorise the working

people and the youth, to confront the organised labor and popular

movement, Papariga said.

 

She attributed the killing of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in

the Exarhia district of Athens by a police bullet on Saturday night to

the result of escalating authoritarianism, reinforcement of the

repression mechanisms and their operation, the nexus of reactionary

laws and the “Euro-terror laws” created by the governments of ND and

PASOK. “The molotov cocktails (fire-bombs) and looting of the hooded

individuals, whose steering center is linked with the state secret

services and centers abroad, had nothing to do whatsoever with the mass

rage of the pupils, the students, the people in general. On the

contrary, they were exploited in order to turn attention away from and

disorient the mass moblisations of the youth and the people against

authoritarianism and the anti-popular policy. An effort was made, and

is being made, by the government, and not only to intensify the

repressive measures,” she said.

 

The KKE found itself opposing them with its political positions and actions.

“We blocked and cancelled certain plans. And we are vigilant,” Papariga

said, adding that the “mass-turnout strike rallies by PAME throughout

Greece and the demonstrations of the pupils, with their mass turnout

and precautions, proved that mass organized action can confront

suppression and terrorism, they proved that ‘the spontaneous’ can be

converted into ‘the conscientious and organized.'”

 

To another question, Papariga said that the scandals, the repression,

the threats and blackmail faced daily by the working people in their

places of work were various sides of the anti-popular pollicy, and the

result of the “Euro-one-way path” served up by ND and PASOK, of the

strategy that serves capital profit and competitiveness and aggravates

the problems of the working class, the youth, the popular strata.

 

She said that the people’s rage and indignation, which obviously intensified,

prompted by the murder of the 15-year-old, was not

enought to halt the negative trends for the people. Nor, she

continued, could any results arise from some struggles that simply

use pressure tactics.

 

Papariga said that the measures taken in recent years, and the “much

worse” measures being planned, such as a 70-hour work-week, in the report

on separation of spare time into active and inactive that was voted on favorably

by ND, PASOK and SYN (Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology) in the

European Union, which was a vital need to capital.

 

The movement, in its current state, cannot face those problems, she

said, adding that a restructuring of the labor movement was necessary,

given that only through organised struggle, a popular alliance against

the government policy and the parties that serve the interests of the monopolies,

could have positive results for the people. This was why

strengthening of the KKE — which with its strategy and action was

formulating the terms and opening the road for the expression of the

people’s counter-attack — was needed.

 

To another question, Papariga said that the KKE firmly believed that

the working class of the cities and the countryside has the power to

change things, provided that they acted and fought for their rights in

the workplace itself, and created its own anti-monopoly alliance.

 

The working people should not be afraid. Those who should be afraid are

capital, the EU and its parties, she said, because the crisis was a

crisis of the capitalism they serve. The working class has for years

been paying the price for increasing the profits of capital, she said,

adding that the working class has no reason now to pay the price of 

capital’s crisis as well. The people must make use of their experience. The

parties that lied to them about Maastricht, about the Euopean Monetary

Union, are lying to them now too, Papariga said.

 

Whether it is the bankers who are boosted, as proposed by the

government, or the industrialists, as proposed by PASOK, the outcome

for the people is one and the same. The outdated or administrative

proposals put forward by SYN are not the solution. The young people,

the popular strata, must permanently turn their back on their policies

and dogmas. Only in that way will they be able to confront the

worst that is yet to come, Papariga stressed.

 

Source: News Agency ANA-MPA