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Greek protesters gathered in the center of Athens on Tuesday evening to denounce austerity measures and reforms in their favorite way, singing and dancing.

Thousands of citizens attended a concert organized by labor union PAME which is linked with the Greek Communist Party (KKE) in front of the parliament, while inside of the building a debate was under way on the pension system reform bill.

The bill which is scheduled to be ratified by the parliament on July 8 is promoted by the government in the framework of policies introduced to overcome the economic crisis that has hit Greece hard this year.

Cutbacks on salaries and wages, tax hikes and the increase of minimum retirement age to 65 years have met strong reaction by Greeks of all ages. Protesters at Syntagma square repeated that people agree that something must be done to get out of the crisis, but they do not agree to make more sacrifices,"while the ones who created the crisis do not pay".

Raising flags of PAME, protesters chanted slogans such as " People rise up against the memorandum with European Union and International Monetary Fund" and "They declared war, we will fight back", as popular Greek singers performed traditional Greek music and rock.

"We are here to send a message this time by using Art as our weapon," actors and actresses added, when they went on stage to read poems calling on people to continue the struggle for rights.

PAME along with ADEDY and GSEE, the two umbrella labor unions of public and private sector employees in Greece, have called for a new general strike on July 8. The parliament will vote on the pension system reform bill on that day. Public services will be closed down for one more time this year and major disruptions are expected again at airports in the midst of the summer tourism season for Greece.

As representatives of the industry voice concern on more losses of revenues due to the strike, opposition parties have announced that they will vote against the bill. The socialist ruling PASOK party has a majority of 157 seats in the 300-member parliament, but there are scenarios that members of PASOK might also vote against the bill.

"The implementation of the memorandum signed between Greece and EU and IMF is a precondition for the salvation of the country," stressed Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday regarding the new development model and a support mechanism for the most vulnerable members of society.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet