Greece austerity vote and demonstrations - live updates
The Greek parliament is due to vote on the austerity bill. Protesters on the second day of a general strike are determined to stop the bill being passed.
11.31am: Greek journalist Matina Stevis just tweeted news of fresh clashes:
Massive teargassing and hand grenades thrown by riot police against the crowd at Syntagma sq now
Presumably they are stun/smoke grenades. You can see more on the livestream (11.17am).
11.17am: Dailymotion.com is livestreaming Syntagma Square again today:
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11.08am: Only one member of the ruling (socialist) PASOK party is likely to vote against the bill - not enough to prevent its passage given that PASOK has a five-seat majority in the 300-member legislature - socialist deputy Alexandros Athanassiadis has told the Associated Press.
Athanassiadis, many of whose constituents are employed by the Public Power Corporation which is up for privatisation, said he maintains his opposition to the bill but that he will likely be the only dissenter. He said:
I have not changed my opinion ... as things stand, I persist in my decision. I don't think (any other socialist) deputies will vote against. I will be the only one.
But the Greek news website Kathimerini.com says the vote is still on a "knife-edge" with three other socialists expressing doubts. It reports that there has been last-ditch attempt on Tuesday to win round dissenters straying from party lines.
10.54am: Alexander Marquardt, from ABC News, has posted a picture of protesters spreading Maalox, an antacid, on their faces! to prot ect against teargas.
10.42am: The Guardian's Helena Smith in Athens writes that battle lines are being drawn ahead of the crucial vote with 8 people already hospitalised this morning:
Residents in downtown Athens woke up to the whiff of tear gas and burning rubbing bins, the former still hanging in the air after a day of pitched battles between protesters and riot police, the latter set ablaze by young Greeks bracing for a fight.Since early this morning, protesters started pouring back into Syntagma Square, the focal point of opposition against austerity measures now seen as the symbol of everything that is wrong with Greece. Many say they will stay in the square whether or not George Papandreou's socialist government passes the bill.
"Whatever happens we will stay on and fight," says Pavlos Antonopoulos, the activist schoolteacher I spoke to yesterday who was back in the square by 8:30am after snatching a couple of hours of sleep. "We hope to amass a lot of people today even if the government has sent out a very strong order to keep Syntagma clear and us away from the parliament building. We will do everything we can to ring off parliament, to stop the vote taking place."
She said that people have been working hard to clean up the square after yesterday's clashes and the police are determined to prevent a repeat of the trouble:
Municipal employees have been working overtime to clean the square hosing it down and in some cases painstakingly removing graffiti but the detritus of battle is everywhere: in the shattered windows of shops and chain stores, the chipped marble facades of hotels, smashed pavements and broken entrances to metro stations. Even the trees are burned.
The police, meanwhile, appear hell-bent on keeping demonstrators away. The capital's main boulevards have been cordoned off and there have been reports of violent incidences between gangs of young Greeks and police i! n Pangra ti, a nearby neighbourhood. By 11 am at least eight people had been rushed to hospital after being clubbed by police with one trade unionist reportedly suffering head injuries and requiring several stitches.
But ordinary Greeks are equally determined to have their voices heard.
Busloads have arrived from around the country all heading for Syntagma Square. And they are backed by the powerful unions that have brought Greece to a standstill with a 48-hour general strike.
"Thousands of strikers have been moved by rage and exasperation with new measures that yet again hit them while those who have, those who stole from the nation's public wealth, those who have never paid taxes, drink to the health of those who are mocked," said Yiannis Panagopoulos who presides over the confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) the country's biggest labour force. "These policies are not only unfair, they lead nowhere and are ineffective. Today we are waging a huge battle and this battle will not stop until these policies are overturned."
10.36am: Protesters have clashed with police outside parliament as people opposed to the austerity bill have sought to block MPs from entering the building to vote.
One communist deputy was pelted with yoghurt as she made her way into parliament and three people were treated for minor injuries as protesters clashed with police during an attempt to bar the way into the chamber.
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10.31am: The markets are betting on the mid-term bill being passed by the Greek parliament.
Japan's Nikkei closed 1.54% higher at 9797 points.
European shares rose sharply in early trading:
Britain's FTSE 100 was 1.2% higher at 5,834.26
Germany's DAX rose 1.3% to 7,265.34
France's CAC-40 was up 1.1%at 3,895.66.
Wall Street was also headed for a higher opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures gaining 0.2%to 12,169 and S&P 500 futures rising 0.3%t to 1,298.40.
10! .27am: The governor of the bank of Greece, George Provopoulos, has told the Financial Times the country will be committing "suicide" if its parliament fails to back the austerity bill.
He said:
We have never really had a debate in this country about what went wrong. In Portugal the new government has come in and said that there will be a difficult two years ahead. We have not had that kind of talk here ...
For parliament to vote against this package would be a crime the country would be voting for its suicide.
10.23am: My colleague Graeme Wearden has outlined exactly what parliament will be voting on today. It amounts to a hard-hitting package of tax rises, cuts to benefits and public spending, and privatisations.
Tax increases include
A solidarity levy: At 1% for those earning between 12,000 (10,800) and 20,000 a year, 2% for incomes between 20,000 and 50,000, 3% for those on 50,000 to 100,000, and 4% for those earning 100,000 or more. Lawmakers and public office holders will pay a 5% rate.
A lower tax-free threshold: People will now pay tax on income over 8,000 a year, down from 12,000. This basic rate of tax will be set at 10%, with exemptions for those under 30, over 65, and the disabled.
Sales tax: The VAT rate for restaurants and bars is being hiked from 13% to the new top rate of 23%. This rate already covers many products in the shops, including clothing, alcohol, electronics goods and some professional services.
Spending cuts include:
Public sector wages: Salaries will be reduced by 15%.
The public sector wage bill: The goal is to cut 150,000 public sector jobs, through a hiring freeze and abolition of all temporary contracts. This should! cut the total bill by 2bn by 2015.
Social benefits and pensions: The retirement age is being raised to 65. Increased means testing, and cuts to some benefits, will reduce the total amount spend on benefits by 1.09bn in 2011, then 1.28bn in 2012, 1.03bn in 2013, 1.01bn in 2014 and 700m in 2015.
10.16am: Welcome to the Guardian's coverage of the protests in Greece and the vote on the mid-term bill in parliament.
The Greek government will hope to pass its austerity bill - a precondition of additional loans from the EU and IMF - in parliament against a backdrop of massive public opposition. Despite its unpopularity the bill is expected to pass. Greece has said it has funds only until mid-July, after which it will be unable to pay salaries and pensions, or service its debts, without the next bailout instalment The vote is expected anytime from 11am BST (1pm Greek time) onwards.
Trade Unionists have vowed to stop MPs getting into parliament for the vote but security in the centre of Athens is high. There are fears of more violent crashes after at least 46 people were injured, most of them police, yesterday as rioters pelted police with chunks of marble and ripped up paving stones, and authorities responded with repeated volleys of teargas and stun grenades.
Several hundred people gathered in front of parliament early today for fresh protests.
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