Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said earlier today he will hold a referendum, calling Greek voters to say a big “yes” or a big “no” to the new European debt deal reached last week. Papandreou appeared to take many deputies by surprise with the announcement. He gave no date on the proposed referendum, which would be the first in Greece since 1974, when the monarchy was abolished by a referendum held months after the collapse of the junta.
“This is in fact a supreme act of democracy and of patriotism for the Greeks to make their own decision … We have a duty to promote the responsibility of the citizen…We trust Greek citizens, we believe in their judgment, we believe in their decision” Papandreou told ruling socialist party lawmakers
However, with nearly 60 percent of Greeks viewing Thursday’s agreement on a new 130 billion euro bailout package as negative or probably negative the referendum might turn out tricky. To make things worse, Papandreou’s socialist government has seen its majority reduced in the parliament and its approval ratings going downhill amid the endless barbaric austerity measures that will most probably send the country into yet another year of recession.
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