One in three Greeks yearns for junta years, poll shows

ATHENS - Agence France-Presse

Doctors and other civil servants shout slogans during an anti-austerity demonsrtation in central Athens on April 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS

Nearly a third of Greeks reckon their crisis-wracked country was better off under the 1967-1974 junta, according to a new survey published Sunday.

The Metron Analysis poll found that 30 percent of those questioned yearned for the "better" days under what was known as "the Regime of the Colonels" -- a seven-year military dictatorship that began with a coup on April 21, 1967.

On the anniversary 46 years later, Greece is struggling with a deep recession with a debt-laden economy reliant on EU/IMF loans and marked by severe austerity, 27 percent unemployment, and rising suicide and murder rates.

Those nostalgic for the era of repressive military rule -- including nearly half those voting for the conservative New Democracy party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras -- said they missed the security and perceived higher living standards it enshrined, according to the survey published by the leftwing daily Eleftherotypia.

Lefwting and anti-racist groups were to mark the coup anniversary with rallies in several cities including Athens.