Cleisthenes, the father of Athenian democracy, must be rolling in his grave at the spectacle of Greece’s referendum this Sunday on whether or not Greece should accept its official creditors’ loan terms. For if ever there were a pointless referendum with no happy outcome, this has to be it. To add insult to injury, it is going to cost the country an estimated $100 million at a time when the Greek treasury is already running out of money to pay public employees and pensioners.
Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, is urging the Greek electorate to vote “no” to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and EU’s loan terms. He is doing so despite the fact that his European partners have made it clear that they will consider the referendum as not merely one on the terms of the creditors’ last offer, but rather as one on the question as to whether Greece wants to stay in the euro or not. The creditors are warning that a no vote would be construed by them as a no to Greece’s continued euro membership.
Undaunted by the creditors’ warnings and by a full-fledged domestic banking crisis, which has forced the government to declare a bank holiday for at least a week, Tsipras is happily proceeding with the referendum. He seems to think that if he gets his way on a no vote, as seems likely judging by the most recent polls, it will strengthen his hand in his protracted negotiations with Greece’s creditors for more bailout money. However, he seems to be overlooking the fact that his very holding of a referendum in defiance of his creditors’ explicit wishes, as well as his campaigning for a no vote, is all too likely to increase his image in their eyes as an untrustworthy negotiator with whom they would prefer not to deal.
Full text of this article can be found at TheHill.com.
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