Referendum slated for Greece reforms

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s parliament voted early Sunday in favor of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ motion to hold a July 5 referendum on creditor proposals for reforms in exchange for loans, with the country’s future in the eurozone looking increasingly shaky.

Tsipras’ surprise call stunned Greece’s international debt negotiators, and the country took a big step closer to falling out of the euro currency union after fellow eurozone member states refused to extend its bailout program past its expiry date on Tuesday, leaving Greece on the brink of financial chaos.

In the streets of Greece, worried people queued outside banks for cash from dawn to dusk after Tsipras’ announcement in the early hours of Saturday, after billions of euros had already been emptied in the preceding weeks.

Greece has a $ 1.8 billion debt due to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday and its bailout program expires the same day, after which it is unclear how the country might survive financially.

The referendum is set for next Sunday with the question on whether to accept proposed reforms needed to get bailout loans from other eurozone countries and the IMF. The government is advocating a rejection of the proposals.

The sudden move comes after five months of stalemated negotiations, with Tsipras accusing creditors of trying to strong- arm his country into taking harsh austerity measures he says would hammer an economy already on its knees after five months of creditordemanded spending cuts and tax hikes.