Athens // Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday urged voters to ignore European scaremongering and vote “No” in Sunday’s referendum as polls showed support swinging behind the “Yes” campaign.
Rival rallies ahead of were held in central Athens on Friday evening, with a pro-government demonstration urging a “No” vote gathering 15,000 people and a nearby “Yes” crowd attracting 12,000, according to police.
Many Greeks, who are struggling under capital controls that have limited daily ATM withdrawals to just €60 (Dh245), fear EU leaders’ warnings that a “No” vote could mean Greece’s exit from the euro – a Grexit.
The sense of building crisis was heightened further by a eurozone emergency fund officially declaring Greece to be in default.
The European Financial Stability Facility, which provides funds to eurozone countries in difficulty, said however it would not demand immediate repayment of its Greek loans worth €145 billion.
Mr Tsipras insisted that his decision to stop debt negotiations last week and call the referendum “does not mean a break with Europe”.
He called on creditors to restructure Greek’s unsustainable €323bn debt mountain by forgiving 30 per cent of the debt owed to them and allowing a 20-year grace period for repaying the rest.
A last-minute challenge to the legality of the ballot was overruled by Greece’s top administrative court, the Council of State, on Friday.
The two petitioners, one of them a former judge on the council, argued that the referendum violated the constitution by asking citizens to decide a “public finances” question.
Confusion, however, is widespread over the very technical question posed in the referendum, compounding concerns over what the post-vote consequences might be.
The two latest polls published Friday showed voter intentions were effectively tied.
An Alco institute poll found 44.8 per cent of Greeks intend to vote “Yes” and 43.4 per cent are for “No”. A Bloomberg survey for Greece’s Macedonia University was equally split, showing 43 per cent to vote “No” and 42.5 per cent “Yes”.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned that Greece’s negotiating position, far from being strengthened, would be “dramatically weakened” in the event of a “No”.
Even if the “Yes” vote wins, there would still be “difficult” negotiations ahead, he added.
Greek voters are confronted with a referendum question that has stumped many.
The question reads: “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, and consists of two parts, that together form a unified proposal, be accepted? The first document is titled ‘Reforms for the Completion of the Current Programme and Beyond’ and the second ‘Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis’.”
Eurozone officials insist that the “deal” referred to expired on Tuesday – the same day Greece failed to make a €1.5bn payment to the IMF, becoming the first developed country ever to do so.
On July 20, Greece looks likely to be unable to repay another €3.5b owed to the European Central Bank (ECB).
Some voters who initially backed the government have swapped sides.
“I was going to vote ‘No’ because I think the Greek people are being treated with contempt. But Tsipras has made the situation so much worse, it’s his fault the banks are closed,” said an Athens shop assistant Suzanna Alizoti.
Greek pensioners without bank cards have been limited to one €120 over-the-counter withdrawal, prompting despair among many.
In Greece’s second-biggest city of Thessaloniki, one retired man unable to withdraw his €120 crumpled to the ground, scattering his papers. A bank manager quickly resolved the problem.
Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has said he would step down if a “Yes” vote carried the day, and the rest of the government “may very well” do the same.
But Mr Tsipras has been ambiguous, saying only he would respect the referendum’s result and take the necessary steps “set out in the constitution”.
* Agence France-Presse
