* Pensioner’s suicide stuns austerity-weary nation
* Small, anti-bailout parties pin blame on bigger rivals
* Second day of protests in Athens, Thessaloniki
By Renee Maltezou
ATHENS, April 5 (Reuters) – A Greek pensioner’s suicide
outside parliament has quickly become a symbol of the pain of
austerity and has been seized upon by opponents of the budget
cuts imposed by Greece’s international lenders.
The 77-year-old retired pharmacist, Dimitris Christoulas,
shot himself in the head on Wednesday after saying that
financial troubles had pushed him over the edge. A suicide note
said he preferred to die rather than scavenge for food.
The highly public – and symbolic – suicide prompted an
outpouring of sympathy from Greeks, who set up an impromptu
shrine on the spot where the pensioner died
On Thursday, hundreds of Greeks – including students,
teachers, members of leftist groups, and the “Indignants” who
held daily sit-ins for months last year – staged a second day of
protests at the shrine, leaving flowers and candles.
Late in the day, minor clashes broke out between a small
group of demonstrators and police, who fired tear gas. A
peaceful demonstration was also held in the city of
Thessaloniki.
The newspaper Eleftheros Typos called Christoulas a “martyr
for Greece”. His act was imbued with a “profound political
symbolism” that could “shock Greek society and the political
world” before an upcoming parliamentary election that will
determine the country’s future.
Anger over the suicide was directed as much at politicians
as at the harsh austerity prescribed by foreign lenders in
return for aid to lift the country out of its worst economic
crisis since World War Two.
“It’s horrible. We shouldn’t have reached this point. The
politicians in parliament who brought us here should be punished
for this,” said Anastassia Karanika, a 60-year-old pensioner.
So far this week, police reported that at least four people
have tried to kill themselves because of financial troubles.
In one case, a 35-year-old cafe owner in central Greece was
hospitalised on Tuesday after drinking pesticide because he
feared his business would be seized by his bank.
With the election expected on May 6, smaller parties opposed
to harsh spending cuts included in the country’s second bailout
were quick to blame bigger parties backing the rescue.
“Those who should have committed suicide – who should have
committed suicide a long time ago – are the politicians who
knowingly decided to bring this country and its people to this
state of affairs,” said Panos Kammenos, a conservative lawmaker
who recently set up the Independent Greeks anti-austerity party.
SHAME ON THEM
Smaller parties like the Independent Greeks have been riding
high in opinion polls before the election at the expense of the
two main ruling parties, the conservative New Democracy and
socialist PASOK, which backed the bailout.
The two big parties are together expected to take less than
40 percent of the vote. Losing more voters to the smaller
parties could mean they will not havie enough seats in
parliament to forge a pro-bailout coalition again.
That would have profound implications for Greece’s finances
as continued aid from the European Union and the International
Monetary Fund depends on the next government pushing through
reforms.
“The main issue is not the suicide itself but the reasons
behind it,” said Thomas Gerakis from the Marc pollster group.
“The problem is far more serious than a single suicide. It shows
that there is a serious – and growing – problem of people in
despair.”
New Democracy and PASOK, which have ruled Greece for
decades, expressed their sorrow over the tragedy. Political
opponents attacked them for joining in the mourning.
“Shame on them. The accomplices responsible for the
suffering and despair of the Greek people … should at least
keep quiet in the face of the hideous results of the capitalist
crisis and their policies, instead of pretending to be saviours
and sensitive,” the KKE Communist party said.
Resentment is rising in Greece over repeated wage and
pension cuts that have compounded the pain from a slump which
has seen the economy shrink by a fifth since 2008.
The IMF, which is unpopular among many Greeks, said it was
saddened by the pensioner’s death.
The number of suicides jumped 18 percent in 2010, and many
Greeks feel ordinary people like the retired pharmacist are
being forced to pay for a crisis not of their making.
“When dignified people like him are brought to this state,
somebody must answer for it,” said Costas Lourantos, head of the
pharmacists’ union in the Attica region.
