“You must vote Yes, independently of the question asked”, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker told the Greek people on Monday (29 June). It sounds like a wild statement. But in fact, Greek voters will indeed not know precisely what they are voting on in the referendum on Sunday. Shortly after Juncker spoke on Monday the Greek government published the referendum ballot, with a long question. “Should the proposal that was submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund at the Eurogroup of 25 June 2015, which consists of two parts that together constitute their comprehensive proposal, be accepted? The first document is titled ‘Reforms for the completion of the Current Programme and beyond’ and the second ‘Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis’,” the ballot reads on the left-hand side.
On the right are the two possible answers: “Not agreed/No” on top, and “Agreed/Yes” underneath. The No is the answer Alexis Tsipras’ government and Syriza party are campaigning for. “No, for democracy and dignity,” reads the referendum poster issued by Syriza. But the question asked to Greek voters itself raises two questions.
Firstly, what documents does it refer to? Secondly, how can voters take an informed decision on the content?
The two documents mentioned on the ballot are the agreement proposal put forward by Greece’s creditors last week, and an analysis of Greek debt by the creditors’ institutions.
Full Article: Greek referendum question poses problems.