Today’s rally against austerity and regressive labour ‘reforms’ in Lisbon was an ‘historic event,’ the biggest in terms of popular support for over 30 years, according to Jerónimo de Sousa, general secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party.
The turn-out, estimated at 300,000 by the trade union confederation, CGTP, showed that the communists were correct to be ‘confident that it was possible to shift, to stop this aggression pact, this attack on workers’ rights,’ said de Sousa, referring to the brutal programme of austerity and neo-liberal reforms being carried out by the country’s right-wing government in order to fulfil the demands of the IMF-EU-ECB Troika.
The people had taken ownership of Palace Square, or Terreiro do Paço, where the rally was held, he said, adding that the Government ignores the popular mood at its peril.
Instead of austerity, De Sousa called for an alternative based on ‘a country of progress, economic growth, full employment, one that responds to the younger generation.’
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