Greeks old and young united in disdain for ruling parties

Page last updated at 11:53 GMT, Sunday, April 29, 2012 - 16:53 EST

Reuters Africa:

Georgios Pasayannis was a Greek civil servant for 40 years, and the 73-year-old pensioner voted faithfully for New Democracy throughout, confident his future was safe in the hands of the conservative party.

Now he says he will never cast his ballot again for "those crooks" or their coalition partners, the centre-left PASOK party, since they cut his 1,500 euro per month pension by a third while pushing through tax increases.

Their mismanagement of Greece has turned the twilight of his life into a grinding struggle. Pasayannis, who worked for the defence ministry, says he plans to get revenge at the May 6 national elections.

"We pay and pay, but we have nothing for it," said the man who had hoped for a carefree retirement in the seaside village of Marathon, 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Athens. "They cheated us and lied to us for years. They're a bunch of crooks."

Greeks are in a fractious mood ahead of the election, and much of their anger is directed at the two parties that have long dominated the political landscape.

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