ΚΚΕ Θεσσαλονικη - Greek Communist Party rally - Thessaloniki

ΚΚΕ Θεσσαλονικη - Greek Communist Party rally - Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

This picture was taken last night during a KKE( Communist Party of Greece) rally in the centre of Thessaloniki. It is party of the final days of the election campaign for the European elections which will take place on Sunday.

Tonight Giorgos Papandreou, leader of the main opposition party, PASOK will also be addressing the party faithful in Aristotelous square.

Tomorrow it is the turn of Kostas Karamanlis, prime minister and head of the conservative New Democracy party. That should be eventful as whenever he appears there are widespread protests. Whatever happens the security measure are sure to be tight so I'll have to have my wits about me.

Actually, all these party rallies are a pale shadow of the events that took place in the 90's and before. Then party leaders could expect to address crowds numbering hundreds of thousands. With the growing importance of TV and the withering of the major parties reliance of local branches ten thousand is considered a big turnout.

Still, none of this matters as the spectacle is designed to look good on TV. For that purpose a crowd of 10,000 is just as useful as 100,000.