Politicians uneasy over public anger
Politicians expressed concern over the weekend after protesters caused the cancellation on Friday of the annual military parade in Thessaloniki marking Greece?s rejection of Italy?s request to stand aside during World War II, and of several smaller parades across the country.
President Karolos Papoulias, who fought the Nazis as a teenager, appealed to Greeks to think carefully about their actions after he was forced to leave the dignitaries? podium in Thessaloniki, objecting to chants of ?Traitor.? ?There are rights and there is their abuse, there is justified rage and there is its perversion,? he said. ?I highlight these points because I believe our country?s exit from the crisis is not just a question of numbers but a deeply political issue and an even deeper cultural one.?
During a student parade in Athens, some pupils turned away from politicians and Church and military officials. The city?s municipal band draped black ribbons from their instruments. There were brief clashes between police and far-rightists.
Parades in other cities were also marred by protests with demonstrators in Iraklio, Crete, pelting dignitaries with eggs. In the central city of Trikala, Christos Magoufis, a local PASOK deputy, was attacked by a young party supporter, who beat him while others hurled eggs and lemons.
On Saturday there was more unrest, with two people arrested following riots outside a hotel in Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, where Prime Minister George Papandreou was chairing a session of the Socialist International?s Special Committee for the Arab World. Papandreou said the protests ?harm our democratic traditions.?
But the leader of conservative opposition New Democracy, Antonis Samaras, accused the government of ?watching these social explosions, which its policies have triggered, helplessly.?
