Photo: Reuters

Thousands of Portuguese on Tuesday gathered outside the National Assembly building to protest an austerity program for fiscal 2013. Protesters displayed slogans condemning the austerity policy affecting citizens. A representative of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers, Portugal’s biggest labor union, said they were protesting the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank in exchange for a bailout package worth 101 billion US Dollars. The austerity measures have triggered a wave of protest. Despite the citizens’ protest, the Portuguese National Assembly has approved a final austerity draft.