Court ruling clears way for referendum in Greece
Validation aside, Greeks still confused what is being asked
ATHENS— Greece’s highest administrative court ruled Friday that a referendum planned for Sunday is constitutional, clearing the last serious hurdle before Greeks go to the polls for a vote that could set the country’s direction for decades. From the moment Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced the referendum last Friday, the vote has been marked by doubts over its purpose and validity. Opponents had challenged its constitutionality in court. But Greece’s Council of State said Friday afternoon that the referendum is within the law.
Despite the ruling, confusion reigned across Greece on the final day of a blink-and-you-miss-it campaign that has sown bitter divisions over how to vote, and even what question people are being asked.
Amid reports that ATMs are running so low on cash that they could run out by Monday, both sides of the referendum debate were preparing to stage final rallies in central Athens that are expected to draw massive crowds.
In an appeal on Greek television for a No vote, Tsipras urged citizens to reject Europe’s “blackmail” and the “sirens of scaremongering.”
The referendum has been sharply criticized by European officials for the breakneck pace at which the vote was organized and the lack of clarity in a ballot question laced with technical jargon.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the commissioner for the euro, told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper that the question is “neither factually nor legally correct,” noting that it asks voters to issue a verdict on a European proposal that has already been withdrawn.
Within Greece, there are sharp divisions over what the referendum represents.
To the radical leftist government and other No supporters, Sunday’s referendum offers voters an up-ordown choice on Europe’s latest cuts-for-cash bailout.
To the opposition and those backing Yes, the choice is between sticking with Europe or going it alone.
On Thursday, with polls showing the outcome too close to call, a potential new variable came into play: By announcing that he would resign if voters spurn the No campaign, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis raised the prospect that Greece will be choosing whether to bring down its government.
Amid the myriad unknowns about Sunday’s referendum, one thing was clear: Rarely, if ever, have a nation’s citizens been asked to decide so much with so little clarity on the impact of their choice and with so few days to sort it all out.