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Portuguese police protest against gov’t draft budget

07 November 2012 01:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Thousands of Portuguese police gathered Tuesday evening in front of the parliament building in protest against government’s budget proposal for 2013 which includes reduction of pay and benefits for the police, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The police in plainclothes marched from Camoes Square in downtown Lisbon to the parilament building, raising banners and chanting slogan.

The peaceful demonstration lasted for several hours and the police submitted a petition to the parliament before the end of the protest.

The protest, organized by the ASPP union, came only days after some of the police themselves protected the parliament by forming human chains preventing the protesters from breaking into the building.

According to the budget proposal, the police will see the reduction of their pay, suspension of their pre-retirement status, an end to their free travel on public transport and higher charges for their health system.

Portugal agreed last year to a 78-billion-euro (about 100 billion U.S. dollars) bailout plan set by the troika, namely the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

The country must reduce its budget deficit to 5 percent instead of the previous 4.5 percent of its gross domestic product this year. The austerity measures enshrined in the draft budget have sparked widespread protests around the country.