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Greece Votes A Resounding “No!” Rallying Around Leader Alexis Tsipras As Euro Plummets
GREEKS REJECT DEMANDS FOR MORE AUSTERITY IN KEY REFERENDUM
ATHENS, Greece — Greeks overwhelmingly rejected creditors’ demands for more austerity in return for rescue loans in a critical referendum Sunday, backing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who insisted the vote would give him a stronger hand to reach a better deal.
Tsipras gambled the future of his 5-month-old left-wing government on the vote. The opposition accused him of jeopardizing the country’s membership in the 19-nation club that uses the euro and said a “yes” vote was about keeping the common currency.
Where will mystery man Alexis Tsipras take Greece by the time this ride ends?
With 70 percent of the votes counted, the “no” side had more than 60 percent. The interior ministry predicted that margin would hold. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Sunday 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.”
Thousands of government supporters gathered in central Athens in celebration, waving Greek flags and chanting “No, No, No.”
Alexis 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. source
The euro lost 1 percent to $1.1002 by 6:09 a.m. Sydney time, touching its weakest level since June 29. The currency slipped 1.7 percent against the yen and 0.9 percent versus the pound. With more than half of the ballots counted, Greeks have voted 61 percent against austerity measures required to win another bailout package, according to results posted on the Interior Ministry’s website. The results mean Greece exiting the currency union is now the base-case scenario, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said.
The post Greece Votes A Resounding “No!” Rallying Around Leader Alexis Tsipras As Euro Plummets appeared first on Now The End Begins.
Source: http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=33913
