Dressed to protest: Greek anger spreads to middle class

ATHENS, Greece, May 23, (AP): Alexis Tsipras doesn’t wear a tie, but a growing number of his critics do.

The left-wing prime minister won a vote in parliament early Monday that will heap more taxes on a dwindling number of Greeks able to pay them.

Whereas previous protests against austerity cuts drew violent street demonstrations featuring hooded youths throwing firebombs, this time it’s suited middle classes professionals revolting. Lawyers in particular are leading what’s been dubbed the “necktie movement” with a strike that’s closed courtrooms since midJanuary.

Effectively, no one in Greece can get a divorce, inherit property, sue for wrongful dismissal, or carry out any transaction that requires court approval. Only criminal cases nearing the statute of limitation are going to court as an enormous backlog of cases has pushed trial dates as far back as 2032.

More than 200,000 trials have been postponed in Athens alone. At the city’s main court complex, criminal suspects in handcuffs, police escorts, and smartly dressed lawyers gather around a canteen that sells toasted sandwiches and iced coffee, waiting hours for their new court dates.

Athens lawyer Thanos Koussoulos says self-employed professionals like him will feel the most pain, as the new measures will increase monthly pension contributions, taxable income, and levies on services.

“An average lawyer will lose half his income and won’t be able to survive,” he said, speaking in an empty courtroom. “Every part of society has been affected by these measures, including groups once considered to be privileged. I think it’s a good thing they are demonstrating”.

Prime Minister Tsipras, 41, was elected on a pledge to scrap austerity. But he was forced by bailout lenders to abandon his position to receive more rescue loans for Greece and a promise of better repayment terms needed for the economy to pull out of recession.

Shortly before the vote, Tsipras argued that sacrifices asked of Greeks would finally pay off.

“Spring may soon be over, but the real spring for our economy lies ahead of us ... We’ve turned the page of history,” Tsipras told lawmakers.

Under the new measures, taxes will be added to everything from beer and coffee to gasoline and monthly Internet charges. Sales taxes will increase across the board, the government created an automatic austerity mechanism to safeguard future budget targets beyond its own term in office, and bailout creditors were even given seats on a new privatization committee with expanded powers.