Post date: Oct 10, 2011 3:40:52 PM
A backlash by an angry public that Members of Parliament are living the good life as Greeks suffer prompts some MPs to give up their decades-old perks and the government to scale back deputies' allowances, despite hostility from other MPs.
ATHENS, GREECE (REUTERS) - Greece's political class has come under fire from an irate public which lays much of the blame for the country's economic woes at the feet of politicians.
Earlier this year, several thousand protesters would gather every day in front of parliament, raise their hands towards the building, and shout "thieves!"
As the debt crisis has grown, protesting workers and citizens have seen their wages and pensions reduced, job losses, and taxes increasing. Their anger is not just against the government but politicians in general, who many protesters criticise for their high wages and privileges at a time of crisis, and immunity from punishment for any wrongdoing. Politicians have even been heckled or attacked while walking in the streets or while in public places by angry mobs of citizens over the last year.
"It is really difficult for them to understand the life of a common worker. Of course some of them are different and are close to the people, but that is not enough. There has to be a more comprehensive reform of the political system, they need to understand the people, who are going through so many difficulties at the moment," said 39 year old civil servant Irini Mazaraki.
"I believe they have not understood what the Greek people are going through, because if they understood what they have done then they would have first cut their own wages as much as possible before cutting the wages of a pensioner," agreed Nadia Patili, an office secretary.
The hostility prompted some deputies to start discussions in parliament about cutting back, and finally the government to cut some of the financial benefits of MPs, who have been known to enjoy high wages and many perks for years. According to MPs, after the cuts, an average wage these days for Members of Parliament is about 80 thousand euros a year
(109,330 U.S. dollars); the government's announced cuts has reduced overall income by about 40 percent, say parliamentary officials.
MPs are given a travel allowance for flights and hotels, an allowance for offices, phones, six office staff and supplies, a free car, and receive two pensions when they retire. Gas allowance will now be cut and phone allowance reduced. They have been asked to trade in large gas guzzling cars for smaller ones. Three holiday bonuses were cut, and one monthly wage will be deducted and put towards paying the debt. They will also pay a solidarity tax like the rest of Greek citizens - a one off tax imposed on wages this year to go towards the debt. Their compensation for committee work will be halved.
But some deputies offered to give up even more as a symbolic gesture, despite being a minority and facing hostility from their peers. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, an MP for the main conservative opposition New Democracy Party for six years, has given up his car, and refuses to accept payment for participating in committees, as he said it is part of an MP's job anyway. Compensation for committee meeting work is now 150 euros each time, cut down from 300 euros, and it makes up a significant addition to an MP's overall income depending on how many committee meetings they attend.
"There is a tremendous lack of trust between the average person on the street and the Greek politicians. Part of it is I think fully justified and once people realize that we try to preserve our own special privileges rather than leading by example they get very, very angry," he said. "Committee work is part of our job, it is probably where we spend most of our time in parliament, it doesn't make sense to me to get paid extra," Mitsotakis said.
He also believes immunity of politicians should be revoked so they may face justice, and there should be financial disclosure of MP's online. Most of all Mitsotakis also believes 300 members of parliament are too many, and if they were reduced it could save the country millions of euros at a time of crisis. This is a contentious issue among deputies and not welcomed by many.
"In my mind that is probably the most important symbolic change that we can actually make and that is actually going to have a real impact also on the budget, we will probably going to be saving about 30, 40 million as a result of that," he said.
Forty-six year old Haroula Kefalidou, has only been in the halls of parliament since 2009. A new MP for the governing socialist PASOK party for the region of Drama, she also returned her free car and is donating the compensation from committee meetings to the National Solidarity Fund, a fund set up to donate money towards reducing the debt. She is against MP's receiving two pensions - MPs' receive a second pension in addition to their regular pension when they retire if they have served as an MP for eight years. She also believes parliamentary immunity of deputies must be reduced so they can be held accountable in courts of justice. It took the young MP, who is in an even more sensitive position than others as she is a member of the party currently in power, several months to announce she was making sacrifices. The response she had from the public was astounding, she said, and caught the attention of more deputies, although others criticised her.
"I had never imagined how much of an effect it would have on people, not just from my region but all Greek citizens. I received so many positive messages of support for my effort, that, - and I say this with every humility, it started a small timid discussion amongst the members of parliament," she said.
Nikos Tsoukalis, an MP of the left wing Democratic Left party for four years for the region of Achaia, said he and the MP's from his party will also give up compensation for participating in committee meetings. He also supports eliminating the extra pension, and a reduction of state funding towards political parties. He does not support the reduction of the 300 MPs, however, as he believes they are needed, adding that some other European countries have more. Tsoukalis also supports a reduction in the immunity of lawmakers, adding that the role of lawmakers needs to be redefined and re-assessed as MPs have also historically been given gifts or perks for doing favours, favours which secured votes.
"In Sweden the total cost of MPs is five times less than it is in Greece. The same occurs in Austria, it is three or four times less. This cost, which translates into the number of personal assistants of an MP, or the granting of cars, or other such privileges, have been awarded in Greece because a lawmaker was more of a servant to the demands and wills of voters instead of a national representative, a representative of the people of his constituency," he said.
These reformers are still among the few in the 300 seat parliament, however. Kefalidou says like everything in Greece these days, reflective of the situation, it takes time to convince people to give up privileges they were used to having for decades.
"It is a very difficult discussion, because when you ask any social level to cut something that is their vested interest, their first reaction is why? they lose their special comforts. I have said, and perhaps to some the characterisation was harsh, that parliament is also like a guild, that's how we are, and going outside the boundaries is difficult. But these times are even more difficult, and our role is on the razor's edge," she said.