The public gallery was cleared after repeated interruptions, and Labour councillors walked out in protest at the public being told to leave.

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In the days after Labour Day on May 1, public sector workers continued to protest in the heart of Athens and at one stage in that first week of May threatened to storm the Parliament building.

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Though a dedicated reformer, he shelved plans to overhaul the decaying pay-as-you-go pension system, after public-sector unions, his power base in Pasok, held demonstrations in protest against even the modest reforms he had proposed.

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