Greece debt crisis: Referendum promised on EU deal
Prime Minister George Papandreou says he will respect the will of the Greek people Greece will hold a referendum on a new European Union aid package intended to resolve the country's debt crisis, Prime Minister George Papandreou says.
Mr Papandreou said a vote of no-confidence would also be held on the deal.
The package envisages losses of up to 50% for private holders of Greek debt and a new 100bn-euro loan (£86:$140bn).
There have been large-scale protests in Greece against the austerity measures introduced by the government.
Mr Papandreou told a meeting of his governing Socialist party that the government trusted the judgement of Greek voters.
"The command of the Greek people will bind us", he was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
He set no date for the referendum, but indicated that it would be held after details of the deal have been finalised with the EU and the country's creditors.
Negative reactionThe EU agreement was reached in the early hours of Thursday morning after marathon talks.
On Friday, there were protests in several cities around Greece.
An important annual parade was cancelled in Thessaloniki after demonstrators blocked the route and shouted insults at President Karolos Papoulias.
An opinion poll published on Saturday by the To Vima newspaper suggested that the majority of people in Greece viewed the deal in a negative light.
Protests have been spreading, in this case to the city of Iraklion on the island of Crete last Friday Many Greeks believe the government has gone too far in allowing the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to dictate the austerity measures needed in order to secure the bailout.
Mr Papandreou has also faced growing dissent from within his own Socialist party over the impact of the austerity measures on the country.
The party's approval ratings have plunged and its parliamentary majority has been cut by several defections to other parties.
Analysts say the promise of a referendum allows Mr Papandreou's government, which has born the brunt of public anger over the austerity measures, to pass responsibility for the country's future to the Greek public.
"The new agreement will be submitted to parliament for approval and then submitted to the judgment of the Greek people," Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told the Antenna TV channel.
"The Greek people can, of course, say no but must bear in mind the consequences of that decision."
Opposition parties said the government had only announced the referendum to avoid having to call an early general election.
"The prime minister is trying to buy time," said Costas Gioulekas from the right-of-centre New Democracy party.
"We want clear solutions. And a clear solution is obvious: elections."
Makis Mailis from the third biggest party, the Communists, also expressed anger.
"This is raw blackmail, we should have elections now," he told the private Mega TV channel।
Αυτό το άρθρο το πήραμε απο τα διεθνή νεα του αμερικανικού ειδησεογραφικού πρακτορίου BBC. Παρατηρήστε το ύφος και τη γλώσσα του δευτέρου μέρους- που αποτελεί στην ουσία σχολιασμό των γεγονότων και των επικείμενων εξελίξεων- και τη σειρά με την οποία παραθέτει τα σχόλια: Προσπαθούν - και είναι αναμενόμενο- να μας φοβίσουν με τις συνέπειες του "ΟΧΙ" στο δημοψήφισμα, προσπαθόντας να εκβιάσουν τη συγκατάθεση του Ελληνικού λαού για το τελειωτικό χτύπημα! Φυσικά ο κύριος Παπανδρέου ξέρει τον τρόπο και τα ψέμματα αφού το έκανε και στο πρόσφατο παρελθόν...
Πρέπει να πάρουμε τη μοίρα μας στα χέρια μας μέσα απο τη Δημοκρατία και το δημοψήφισμα! Το ηχηρό "ΟΧΙ" του λαού μας ας είναι η μέγιστη απογύμνωση της ανθελληνικής πολιτικής των κυβερνώντων και ενα ισχυρό μύνημα στα κοράκια του διεθνούς λόμπυ!
by EAGLE
