Greek War Hero Fights Austerity Plan
May 28, 2012
Manolis Glezos
On the night of May 30, 1941, Manolis Glezos and a friend secretly tore down the swastika flag from the Acropolis in Athens, an act that inspired the resistance movement across Europe. Now he is fighting for a place in the Greek parliament with the left-wing Syriza coalition.
At 90 years of age, Manolis Glezos is still putting himself on the front line. During anti-government protests in March 2010 and again in February this year, he was tear-gassed by riot police outside parliament.
Now Glezos is battling to win a seat in parliament with the left-wing Syriza coalition - where he intends to fight a European Union austerity plan.
We don't fight [the election] so that we can ascend to power, but so that power is given to the Greek people," said Glezos. "This is what we fight for and this is our goal. The people will decide everything, not us.”
The Syriza bloc won 17 per cent of the vote in the first election. The party’s rejection of the austerity program the EU and International Monetary Fund imposed in return for financial bailouts has made it a major contender to lead a coalition after the next election in June.
Glezos says the choice between austerity or leaving the euro -- the scenario threatened by countries like Germany - is a “false dilemma”.
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