Greeks Urged to Vote “No” on Referendum

After bringing a vote on Greece’s credit crisis to the people, the prime minister has asked voters to vote against the proposal.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shut down talks with creditors and Germany last weekend and announced a referendum. Alongside the announcement, Greece’s banks and stock market shut down and capital controls were imposed on the country, which remained intact for three days.

After bringing a vote on Greece’s credit crisis to the people, the prime minister has asked voters to vote against the proposal.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shut down talks with creditors and Germany last weekend and announced a referendum. Alongside the announcement, Greece’s banks and stock market shut down and capital controls were imposed on the country, which remained intact for three days.

In a sudden reversal, Tsipras announced today he is urging the Greeks to vote against the referendum that he called while also offering to accept most of creditors’ demands for austerity and budget reforms in the country. However, Tsipras has continued to ask for some slight changes to the creditors’ demands, which European policymakers have already resisted.

On Wednesday, Tsipras said the “Greek government will be at the negotiating table after the referendum, with better terms for the Greek people,” hinting that he is ready to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who have sparred with the Greek policymakers on the issue.

“No Negotiations”

The German government has made it clear that it will not compromise and will not discuss any deal before the Greek referendum—an indication that the central European country is less worried about a Grexit than in the past. Many analysts have argued that Greece was in a position of strength, because Germany was dedicated to maintain the integrity of the Eurozone at all costs.

That theory seems to be dissipating as Merkel told lawmakers that there would be “no negotiations” before the referendum in Greece. Awaiting a clear signal of the will of the Greek people, Merkel said, is necessary before a serious deal can be made.

Schaeuble was more contemptuous in a statement to reports, saying that Greece has given “no basis for talking about any serious measures,” hinting that the country needs to be more dedicated to increase its budget surplus according to creditor demands.

IMF Default

Greece has already officially entered default with its loan from the IMF, due earlier this week and which Greece failed to pay on time. More recently, Greece has announced that pensions will begin to be rationed throughout the country, and further actions are likely to come to help the country access liquidity in order to pay its obligations.

Already, pensioners have been receiving diminished payments. Those who came to the National Bank of Greece for their monthly payments received no more than 120 euros per person. Pension payments in Greece are about 600 euros on average.

Among its demands, the IMF, and other creditors are insisting that Greece curb its pension payments and enforce tax laws more aggressively throughout the country. While they admit some progress has been made, there is still a sense that Greece’s tax revenue should rise further. Opponents argue that this could hinder growth in the country.