‘Yes’ or ‘No’: Greece votes in crucial bailout referendum

Referendum campaign posters that reads No (R) and Yes (L) in Greek are seen on a bus stop in Athens, Greece. (Reuters / Jean-Paul Pelissier)

Referendum campaign posters that reads “No” (R) and “Yes” (L) in Greek are seen on a bus stop in Athens, Greece. (Reuters / Jean-Paul Pelissier)

The polls have opened in Greece as the crisis-hit country votes in a referendum on whether to accept the harsh bailout demands of its international creditors and, consequently, its future in the eurozone and the EU.

A total of 4,800 polling stations across the country opened at
7:00 am local time (4:00 GMT) and will close at 7:00 pm, with
first results expected after 9:00 pm.

Approximately 9.9 million Greeks are eligible to participate in
the vote, which was labeled #Greferendum by the social media.

A turnout of at least 40 percent is required for the results of
the plebiscite to be valid.

Voters are handed two ballots as they enter the booths – one
contains the referendum question and the other, for those who
wish to abstain, is blank.

“Should the deal draft that was put forward by the European
Commission, the European Central Bank and the International
Monetary Fund in the Eurogroup of June 25, 2015, consisting of
two parts, that together form a unified proposal, be
accepted?”
the question reads.

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The people are asked to put “+” in either ‘No’ or ‘Yes’ boxes,
while the use of any other symbol makes the ballot invalid.

With the country’s economy on the brink of default, the interior
ministry said that the vote cost around €25 million to hold,
which is half the cost of January’s general election that brought
the current anti-austerity government to power.

Sunday’s referendum in Greece was called by Greek Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras last week in order to add more clout to his
negotiating position in the ongoing talks with the Troika of
global lenders – the European Central Bank (ECB), European
Commission (EC), and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The negotiations have been stalled since June 25, after creditors
declined to prolong a financial aid program for the struggling
country or delay payments on earlier debts.

Speaking in front of a 25,000-strong rally in Athens on Friday,
Tsipras urged the crowd to say a “proud ‘No’ to ultimatums” by
the lenders, stressing that the plebiscite is about “staying in
Europe, and deciding to live in dignity in Europe.”

Greek economic minister, Yanis Varoufakis, went a step further on
Saturday, describing the actions of the Troika as
“terrorism.”

“What they are doing with Greece has a name: terrorism,”
Varoufakis told Spanish El Mundo paper. “Why have they forced
us to close the banks? To make people frightened. And when it
comes to spreading terror, this phenomenon is called
terrorism.”

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He said the country’s creditors want the people to say
“Yes” to the bailout terms, so that “they could
humiliate the Greeks.”

If the Greeks do vote ‘Yes,’ Tsipras’s government is likely to
resign, and Greece will have to accept more austerity measures,
including pension cuts and tax increases.

A ‘No’ vote, on the other hand, may lead to Greece’s exit from
the eurozone, and potentially the EU, raising questions about the
euro as a viable currency.

Four opinion polls published on Friday showed that the “Yes” and
“No” camps were running neck and neck ahead of the vote.

A survey published by To Ethnos newspaper two days ahead of the
referendum revealed that 41.5 percent would back the bailout
terms and 40.2 percent would reject the Troika’s demands.

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