Our NO is a Majestic, big
YES to a Democratic, Rational Europe!
By Yanis Varoufakis
July 06, 2015 "Information
Clearing House"
- On the 25th of January, dignity was restored to the
people of Greece.
In the five months that intervened since then, we became the
first government that dared raise its voice, speaking on behalf of the people,
saying NO to the damaging irrationality of our extend-and-pretend ‘Bailout
Program’.
We
- spread the word that the Greek ‘bailouts’ were exercises
whose purpose was intentionally to transfer private losses onto the
shoulders of the weakest Greeks, before being transferred to other European
taxpayers
- articulated, for the first time in the Eurogroup, an
economic argument to which there was no credible response
- put forward moderate, technically feasible proposals that
would remove the need for further ‘bailouts’
- confined the troika to its Brussels’ lair
- internationalised Greece’s humanitarian crisis and its
roots in intentionally recessionary policies
- spread hope beyond Greece’s borders that democracy can
breathe within a monetary union hitherto dominated by fear.
Ending interminable, self-defeating, austerity and
restructuring Greece’s public debt were our two targets. But these two were also
our creditors’ targets. From the moment our election seemed likely, last
December, the powers-that-be started a bank run and planned, eventually, to shut
Greece’s banks down. Their purpose?
- To humiliate our government by forcing us to succumb to
stringent austerity, and
- To drag us into an agreement that offers no firm
commitment to a sensible, well-defined debt restructure.
The ultimatum of 25th June was the means by which
these aims would be achieved. The people of Greece today returned this ultimatum
to its senders; despite the fear mongering that the domestic oligarchic media
transmitted night and day into their homes.
Today’s referendum delivered a resounding call for a mutually
beneficial agreement between Greece and our European partners. We shall respond
to the Greek voters’ call with a positive approach to:
- The IMF, which only recently released a helpful report
confirming that Greek public debt was unsustainable
- The ECB, the Governing Council of which, over the past
week, refused to countenance some of the more aggressive voices within
- The European Commission, whose leadership kept throwing
bridges over the chasm separating Greece from some of our partners.
Our NO is a majestic, big YES to a democratic Europe.
It is a NO to the dystopic vision of a Eurozone that
functions like an iron cage for its peoples.
It is a loud YES to the vision of a Eurozone offering
the prospect of social justice with shared prosperity for all Europeans.
Yanis Varoufakis is the current finance minister of Greece.
=====
Greece Referendum: Partial
Results - 'No' Vote Ahead
By BBC
July 05, 2015 "Information
Clearing House"
- "BBC"
- With
more than a third of votes counted, results from the Greek referendum suggest
voters have rejected the terms of an international bailout.
Results published by the interior ministry showed about 60% of
those whose ballots had been counted voting "No", against some 40% voting "Yes".
Greece's governing Syriza party campaigned for a "No", saying
the bailout terms were humiliating.
The "Yes" campaign warned this could see Greece ejected from
the eurozone.
Senior European officials had also said that a "No" would be
seen as an outright rejection of talks with creditors.
But Greek government officials have insisted that a "No" vote
would strengthen their hand and that they could rapidly strike a deal for fresh
funding in resumed negotiations.
Greek banks will reopen by Tuesday, they say.
Follow our live updates
"The mandate from the Greek people is for the government to
defend its own proposal and its own positions," government spokesperson Gabriel
Sakellaridis said as results began to come in on Sunday. "The real negotiations
must start from tonight."
'New popular mandate'
Euclid Tsakalotos, Greece's deputy foreign minister, told Star
TV that two developments would allow Greece to pursue "a solution that is
financially viable".
"Firstly, the government now has a new popular mandate and the
second is the latest [International Monetary Fund] report which says that the
Greek debt is unsustainable."
Greece had been locked in negotiations with its creditors for
months when the Greek government unexpectedly called a referendum on the terms
it was being offered.
Banks have been shut and capital controls in place since last
Monday, after the European Central Bank declined to give Greece more emergency
funding.
Withdrawals at cash machines have been limited to €60 per day.
