On Saturday 17/12/22, thousands of workers, self-employed, and students gave a mass militant response to yet another barbaric anti-popular regular budget, holding a rally outside the Greek parliament, while the 2023 budget was being discussed.

The rally, organized by class unions rallied in the All Workers’ Militant Front (PAME), as well as trade unions of the self-employed, students, and other mass organizations, was a call for the continuation and escalation of the struggle of the working class for increases in wages, for the protection of people’s income against high prices and auctions of houses.

Similar rallies were held in many cities around Greece.

The GS of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, attended the rally in Athens and made the following statement to the media outlets: “The struggle continues inside the Parliament and outside of it, in Syntagma square, in the streets around Greece, against the anti-popular budget, against high prices, against auctions, against state violence and repression, for increases in salaries and pensions. For the vindication of our people and the meeting of the demands of the labour - trade union movement and the popular strata.”

Addressing the parliament, the GS of the CC of the KKE noted that the budget is deeply anti-popular and class-based, as were all the previous ones, regardless of who submitted them. Dimitris Koutsoumbas explained that the state budget is the main tool for the implementation of the economic policy of the bourgeois governments and has been the means of redistribution over time, at the expense of the majority and for the benefit of the few. He added that the five-day debate in Parliament on the new budget confirmed that the boundaries between ND and SYRIZA on the main policies that determine the life of the people are blurred. Highlighting a series of popular problems, such as high prices, he noted that growth for capital does not mean growth for the people, but poverty and misery instead. “You have reached the point of debating over which part of high prices is ‘imported’ and which belongs to Greece. There is no such thing as imported high prices, the country is fully integrated into the EU. Stop this nonsense,” he added.

Referring to the scandal that broke out with the case of bribery of Eva Kaili, vice-president of the European Parliament, by Qatar, he stressed that “this scandal, by which you were supposedly shocked, was not some isolated incident and rare exception. The European Parliament is embroiled in big scandals. This is because EU policy itself acts as a breeding ground for scandals.”

He concluded his speech by stressing that the slogan “Only the people can save the people” is extremely timely and, whenever it has been put into practice the workers and people have had important achievements. “The KKE is the party that gives substance, life, and prospect to this slogan” he said, adding that “It goes without saying that for all the above reasons and for other reasons that have been explained by the MPs of the KKE over the past days, we are saying NO to your anti-popular budget.”

The 15 MPs of the KKE voted against the budget, which, as expected, was approved with the votes of the ruling party (156 yes, 143 no).