Greece Votes on High-Stakes Bailout Referendum

Saturday, June 27: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calls a referendum on whether or not to accept the terms of the latest round of bailout aid. His wife Dimitra distrusts both the Yes and the No campaigns and doesn’t plan to vote in Sunday’s momentous referendum.

(AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis). A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Athens, Sunday, July 5, 2015. There is now widespread confusion in the country, which is evident by the number of people in the yes or the no camp rapidly changing, as indicated by the pre-poll surveys.

He has vehemently called upon a “no” vote, saying it would strengthen his hand to negotiate a better deal with the country’s creditors, and a “yes” would be a capitulation to their harsh demands.

The referendum is officially a Yes or No vote on a bailout offer from creditors, but a “Yes” could bring down the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, while European leaders say a “No” could force a chaotic exit from the euro.

“It is a holiday today, because the democracy is a celebration and happiness”.

Michelis, an 80-year-old first through the doors of an elementary school being used for the vote on Skoufa street in central Athens, said he too was voting “No” “because they’ll take us more seriously”.

“The situation is only getting worse, due to Greek government’s behaviour”, Dijsselbloem (also Dutch finance minister) commented in a question-and-answer session in front of the Dutch parliament.

“Come with me to see the crowds of people waiting at Alpha Bank”, one man said to him.

Dimitris Halatsis, a teacher, said it was “a crucial day” and he was voting “No” because “it’s the only chance the government and Greece have to apply pressure” on the creditors.

“It’s more of what they’ve had in the past and that’s probably what is going to happen”.

In Greece, the choice is faced by an mad and exhausted population who, after five years of crippling austerity, have now suffered through a week of capital controls imposed to prevent the collapse of the nation’s financial system. Since then, the standoff between Athens and its global lenders has grown more bitter, and early signs of a few economic growth and recovering employment in Greece have disappeared. Polls also showed a generation divide, with younger voters favoring the “no” side more than older voters. Or reject it in the hope it will not lead the country out of the euro?

In effect, that means all euro debt or import payments for the government, companies and households would soar at a time when total private and public sector debt is already estimated at three times Greece’s roughly $240 billion annual GDP. “I am sure that after tomorrow a way will be opened for a return to the founding values of Europe”.

The sense of urgency was palpable all week as Greeks struggled to decipher a convoluted referendum question while being bombarded with frenzied messages of possible impending doom.

Athens voter Nikolaos Papadopoulos said he cast a “yes” ballot.

“I pray on my knees for the “Yes” to win”.

Another problem with any future debt negotiations is that Greece’s creditors do not agree among themselves.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis promised Greeks on the eve of the vote that European creditors would immediately have to grant Athens better terms, including massive debt relief and less austerity, if they voted “No”.

Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis, meanwhile, denied media reports that he would be picked to lead a new “grand coalition” government after the vote.

It is likely these leaders would need to resign and even call snap elections, as they would be unable to negotiate a new bailout agreement due to critically low trust levels with Greece’s creditors.

Joanna Kakissis, reporting from Athens for NPR, says that the referendum is confusing Greeks because it is about a credit deal that no longer exists. Opponents say only a “yes” vote can guarantee that Greece won’t be ejected from the eurozone and face years of extreme economic penury.