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Thousands protest against austerity in central Lisbon

Xinhua, June 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thousands of Communist Party supporters protested in central Lisbon on Saturday against the government's austerity policies.

Protestors, mostly elderly people, held up flags as the "Grandola Vila Morena" played in the background - a song by Zeca Afonso which dates back to 1974 when a peaceful revolution gave way to democracy.

"This right-wing government is no good and the Socialist party is against the working class," Veia Francisco, 72, retired, a member of the Communist party, told Xinhua.

"I'm here to protest against austerity measures and also against cuts for pensioners," said another member of the Communist party, Ermalinda Ricardo, 66, retired.

The Portuguese government has been applying unpopular spending cuts and tax increases under a bailout program the country signed in 2011 with the troika -- the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.

The protest on Saturday was organized by Portuguese Communist Party's Secretary General Jeronimo de Sousa and Deputy of the Green Party Eloisa Apolonia, who are running together for the general elections taking place in September or October.

The center-right ruling coalition is running neck-and-neck with the Socialist party in recent polls, suggesting that Portugal still has a conservative electorate despite widespread discontent. Endit