Editorial: Guarantees

Protests are a right that is recognised in the Constitution and in the consciousness of the Greek people.

However, it is not a right for the few to upset the life of the city at the expense of the many.

On the contrary, it is an abuse to which most citizens and political forces have wanted for years to put an end.

The regulation of the status of public protests is necessary. It must be supported by the participation with good will in a public dialogue of all those who for the sake of opposition, ideological fixations, or for the sake of trade unionism want to maintain the current status.

They continue to want 40 or 50 protestors blocking transit in the capital with the delusion that this will help satisfy their demands.

The exact opposite occurs. No wave of support and no anti-government feeling are created.

Those drivers who are trapped in the city centre due to protests react with consternation and society remains indifferent.

Society now views one protest after the other as yet another inconvenience in their daily lives.

The plan proposed by the government is based on proposals that were tabled in 2012 by a group of citizens whose authority, democratic culture, and academic credentials are indisputable.

In other words it has the necessary guarantees to ensure the sacred right to protest and at the same time to protect life in a city which until now has paid a high price due to this problem.