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The Game is Over: Papandreou Considering Referendum on Euro Exit
21 September 2011
The euro system, and thus the whole trans-Atlantic system is at an end. Despite its denials, the Greek government is reportedly considering holding a referendum on whether Greece should leave the euro and return to the drachma. Is this why Papandreou cancelled his Washington trip at the last minute? Citing unnamed sources, the Greek liberal daily Kathimerini claims that the government of Prime Minister George Papandreou is considering calling a referendum, in the hope that the vote would be in favor of Greece staying in the Eurozone and thus give him a popular mandate to carry out the austerity measures being demanded by the EU-EC-ECB Troika. Popular mandate? The Interior Ministry has tabled in Parliament a general referendum bill this week. The idea for a referendum is said to have come from Papandreou’s close aides. At the Sept. 18 emergency cabinet meeting, several ministers reportedly pressed for early elections. Interior Minister Haris Kastanidis noted that if the referendum resulted in a negative vote, snap elections would have to be held. Agriculture Minister Costas Skandalidis is said to have opposed a referendum, while calling for early elections. The government’s mandate does not end until the very end of 2013. The Financial Times reports that Papandreou has been under pressure from more left-wing elements in his own PASOK party, who oppose the austerity. The PASOK-affiliated electrical workers union, DEH, has threated to sabotage the government’s scheme to collect the new, draconian property tax by attaching it to electricity bills. EIR’s Greek sources report that if a referendum were held, people would vote against the euro. |