Thousands are expected in Lisbon this afternoon for the latest demonstration against the government’s austerity cuts.
Speaking for civil service union Frente Comum, coordinator Ana Avoila explained to Lusa news agency that the protest is a bid to get the government to restore the salaries and pensions affected during the country’s adjustment programme.
“We demand the reversal of these cuts!” she told the agency. “There is no point in saying that ‘we will not go back to 2011’s levels’. If the government thinks it can get this country working after robbing its people and workers, it can’t,” the union representative stated.
Avoila’s outburst followed comments by Prime Minister Passos Coelho last week, in which he maintained the country would be unable to restore salaries and pensions to the levels enjoyed pre-austerity.
Today’s protest will convene at 2.30pm at Jardim do Príncipe Real.
