Polling Stations Open in Crucial Bailout Referendum in Greece

World » SOUTHEAST EUROPE | July 5, 2015, Sunday // 07:58
Bulgaria: Polling Stations Open in Crucial Bailout Referendum in Greece A handout picture released by the Greek Prime Minister`s press office on 01 July 2015 of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addressing the nation about the referendum on 05 July 2015, during a speech broadcasted from his office in Athens, Greece, 01 July

Polling stations opened across Greece on Sunday morning in a crunch bailout referendum which could determine the country’s place in the eurozone.

Voting started at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and will close at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT). The first results are expected at about 9 p.m. (18 GMT). 

By choosing whether to accept or not the terms of an international bailout Greeks will also determine the way the economyof their country will develop. The vote could also make or break the radical-left government led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. 

Tsipras called the referendum last week in the hope a ‘No vote’ would strengthen his hand in talks with international creditors to win a new bailout - with better terms. If he loses, Tsipras has indicated he would step down.

Greece's current bailout programme with the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank expired on Tuesday.

“If the Greek people want to have a humiliated prime minister, there are a lot of them out there. It won’t be me,” Tsipras told Greek television earlier this week

If Tsipras resigned, Greece would be expected to hold early elections with September seen as a likely time.

But given that cash-strapped Greece faces major debt payments later this month and is undergoing a financial crisis that has forced it to shut banks and introduce capital controls, a likely development is for the president to call for the formation of a interim government to continue talks with lenders and keep the country afloat until elections are held, analysts have said.

 

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Tags: greece, Referendum, bailout, Tsipras, creditors, lenders

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