Greece is holding during the next 48 hours a general strike and rallies against the Midterm Fiscal Program. People will massively fight once again, against the efforts of the Government to impose a program that is unfair and destroys every notion of public goods, social and labour rights but that is also aggravating the crisis and the recession.

This is seen as the most important moment - the peak after 34 days - of the mobilisations of the people against the vote of even harsher austerity measures.

Thousands of people, the Trade Unions, the "indignados" and of course, the political forces of the Left are going to proceed with a two-day blockade of the Parliament in order to prevent the vote of the Midterm Fiscal Program.

At the same time, the parties of the Left are also making this fight within the Parliament and asked, amongst other things, for the vote to be nominal. Some PASOK MPs have been saying that they do not intend to vote in favour of the Fiscal Program. The government will need its slim majority to get the package through and to get the fifth installment of an international bailout by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

 The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has told MPs that his government’s austerity plan is the only chance for the country to get back on its feet.

“You cannot terrorise your MPs by referring to patriotism because if there is something we should be proud of today it’s that Greeks have risen up from their indifference and are defending, as is their duty, patriotism by the presence in the streets,” said Alexis Tsipras, leader of Synaspismos.

Opinion polls suggest that three quarters of Greeks are in opposition to the tax rises, spending cuts and privatisations.