Greeks reject demands for more austerity in key referendum
July 06, 2015 07:53
Voters in Greece have resoundingly rejected creditors' demands for more austerity in return for rescue loans, backing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who insisted the vote would give him a stronger hand to reach a better deal.
The opposition accused Tsipras of jeopardising the country's membership in the 19-nation club that uses the euro and said a "yes" vote was about keeping the common currency.
With 87 per cent of the votes counted, the "no" side had more than 60 per cent.
"Today we celebrate the victory of democracy," Tsipras, who gambled the future of his 5-month-old left-wing government on the vote, said in an address to the nation.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said last night that creditors planned from the start to shut down banks to humiliate Greeks and force them to make a statement of contrition for showing that debt and loans are unsustainable.
On Sunday night's result, he said that "'no' is a big 'yes' to democratic Europe. It's a no to the vision of Europe an infinite cage for its people. It is a loud yes to the vision of the Eurozone as a common area of prosperity and social justice."
Tsipras' high-stakes brinkmanship with lenders from the eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund resulted in Greece defaulting on its debts this week and shutting down its banks to avoid their collapse. He called the referendum last weekend, giving both sides just a week to campaign.
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