Greek referendum: Pasok MPs will not support Papandreou

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News 3 November 2011 Last updated at 10:04

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has lost the support of three of his MPs ahead of a crucial confidence motion in his government on Friday.

The Greek cabinet is meeting in emergency session at 10:00 GMT (12:00 local) after governing Pasok party MPs withdrew their support for a referendum on the eurozone bailout for Greece.

Pasok holds 152 of 300 seats, implying Mr Papandreou could face defeat.

Several government ministers have criticised the idea of a referendum.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15568915

[tama]

1. BBC is not trustworthy

"In the early hours of the morning, upon his return from the G20 meeting in Cannes, Venizelos said: "Greece’s place within the euro is a historic conquest which cannot be questioned. The acquired right of the Greek people cannot be put to a referendum."
http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/8/49957

EU goons try to boss over Greeks that the refendum is about membership in Eurozone, instead of the package. The law and treaties are not on the side of EU goons, they act like mafia gangsters.

[dipsydoodle]

3. The actual subject was solely the likelyhood of the referendum occuring

based on reduced support for it. The simple statement at the point at which I posted this required no opinion.

I can see that the page has since been updated given the event had occurred only minutes before and no mention is there of that being 10am GMT now. Like it or not for main tv news we've got BBC and Sky. Personally I ignore "opinion" which is why broadly speaking I avoid the Guardian which has oh too much of it.

[tama]

4. BBC

told that "Venizelos is breaking ranks" and saying no to referendum. According to Athens News, Venizelos is only saying he opposes referendum about membership in Eurozone, as Sarkozy and Merkel demand totally unlawfully and against all EU treaties.

Other matter is that the situation in Greece and elsewhere is indeed chaotic and confusing... we can just stay cool and keep following.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. He opposes waiting for any result of a referendum

His statement:

«Greece’s position within the euro area is a historic conquest of the country that cannot be put in doubt. This acquis by the Greek people cannot depend on a referendum.

The country must feel safe and stable and that is the first requirement in order for it to be truly safe and stable. Greek banks are totally secure, as an integral part of the European banking system. This was apparent last night from the discussion in Cannes.

What is important is for the sixth tranche to be disbursed, without any distractions or delay, according to the decisions of Eurogroup of October 26, which came as a result of 10 hours of hard negotiations.

The next step is to activate, before the end of the year, the new support programme that provides Greece with an additional 130 billion euro and leads to a reduction of Greek sovereign debt of about 100 billion euro. The completion of these processes is a national project.

I traveled to Cannes right after being discharged from the hospital because I think that this was my national duty. Having an immediate picture of the situation in Europe and around the world, I have a duty to tell the Greek people the full and simple truth:

If we want to protect the country we must, under conditions of national unity and political seriousness and consensus, implement without any delay the decision of October 26. Now, as soon as possible.

However, what the Government and the parliamentary majority do alone is not enough towards this goal. What is being done and said on a European and international level concerns equally the opposition, especially New Democracy, the main opposition party, which has been conveyed the same strong messages from Cannes and the position of which, were it positive, would act as a guarantee for the country’s international credibility, whereas when it has been negative, it has damaged severely this credibility at a serious cost for Greek citizens.

Internal political balances and the future of individuals and political parties of this country is not what matters. What matters is to save and recover the country through the only doable process which is included in the decision of October 26».

http://www.minfin.gr/portal/en/resource/contentObject/id/28bc6ea7-c7bc-4765-bbe5-b6f9a41037da

(mods: a statement from a government site seems not to be covered by copyright to me, so I've quoted it in full, since context is vital here)

I think saying that Venizelos is saying no to a referendum is accurate. He wants the deal done on Oct 26th to be implemented as soon as possible; that cannot happen if you wait for a referendum.

[dipsydoodle]

6. According to most reports from last night

and doubtless continuing into this morning the referendum is/was to be concerned with whether or not the population of Greece wanted to accept , or otherwise , more bailout money with the associated demands for increased austerity matters and NOT whether they wanted to stay in the Euro. The two issues do however combine by association.

The general feeling also seemed to be that +60% of the population would want the bailout - can't comment on that as that is their own affair.

[jerseyjack]

2. Why on Erf would those dumb bastards want to hold a referendum?

Referendums are democracy. Wall Street doesn't want democracy.

[DCBob]

7. Well this explains why the Euro markets are all up at the moment..

Looks like the referendum may not happen after all if there are so many MPs against it.