End of “ta mesa”: no more jobs for relatives in Greece

Bruised by a fifth year of recession and battling to remain inside the euro, many people in Greece accuse mainstream political parties that have ruled for almost four decades of cronyism in the bloated public sector.

In August, conservative lawmaker Byron Polydoras used the single day he served as speaker of a temporary parliament to give his daughter a permanent job in his office.

Local media called Polydoras's move "immoral", and thousands signed up to the Facebook page "Polydoras's resignation now".

The public backlash came as unemployment data showed more than half of Greek youth without a job, as a result of harsh austerity policies to shore up the debt-laden country's finances.

Greece's fragile three-party coalition is making an effort to woo the general public before passing yet another round of austerity measures demanded by international lenders.

In the last few weeks it has instigated law-and-order sweeps against illegal immigrants and criminal gangs, and introduced heating fuel subsidies and price caps on food sold in schools and on public transport.