by guest contributor Dimitrios Machairidis
Coup d’état always arrives early in the morning. On Saturday, June 27th at 4am I was awakened to hear that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras decided to organize a referendum. Nothing about it was clear but the day, July 5th. My memory recalled this was the only referendum I can remember. In November 1974 my parents went to the poll station to decide the future of the monarchy in Greece. The monarchy was abolished by 69% of the Greek voters. It was a clear YES or NO. NAI means YES, OXI means NO.
Waiting for the results in Syntagma Square
Saturday at 10am I was informed that the banks would stop operating. I realized that in my wallet there were not more than 5 euros. I jumped into the car, I draft 300 euros from the ATM and I run to the gas station and the supermarket. Sunday morning the news was worse. The banks closed thru July 7th and the ATMs did not operate through Tuesday, June 30th. I felt nervous. I realized that my savings were locked behind the ATM. I received calls asking urgently for my help. Journalists from all over the world were arriving in Athens and they needed French speaking Greek journalists to work with. France Radio and ARTE the French German channel doing a documentary about Greece with journalist Jean Quatremer, famous in French speaking countries, immediately hired me.
Making the line in front of our Money
The Greek referendum became the front page all over the world. Monday, June 29th the photogenic minister of finance Yianis Varoufakis announced that the daily drafting limit of the ATMs: 60 euros. Tuesday, June 30th Athenians were queuing in front of the ATMs to draft their 60 euros. Wednesday, July 1st the banks operated only for the pensioners. In Greece, most of the third age people do not use debit or credit cards. The 1st of every month they arrive at the bank agency to draft their pension from the teller. The queues were long. I am living in a country where cash is king. Many stores do not accept cards. Consequently, in every corner in Athens there is an ATM to draft money. In less than 3 days all Greeks learned to queue either in front of the ATMs or in front of the teller getting in the queue.
Party of NO begins in front of the Hellenic Parliament
Sunday, 5th of July I was queuing again into the poll station to vote for the referendum. The question of the referendum was a long phrase with Greek and English sentences. I was asked to decide about a proposal paper the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF sent to the Greek government. I had to tickle with a YES or a NO on the bulletin. If I were curious about the proposal I had to read a blueprint of tens of pages full of technical terms. I bet no Greek who voted on July 5th has read it. They voted against the EU and IMF measures applied to Greece, against Angela Merkel and her minister of finance Wolfgang Schauble, against the heavy debts of Greece. Finally, NO won by 61.8. Syntagma square, the landmark of Athens, was full of radical young people celebrating the victory. They were militants of the radical parties that mushroom in Greece: SYRIZA the radical left party of Alexis Tsipras and ANEL the right wing radical party that formed the coalition government, and other extreme left wing parties such as ANTARSYA, Work Solidarity etc.
The bulletin of the referendum
Why are you celebrating so fervently the exit of Greece from Eurozone I asked a young lady dancing on Syntagma Square? “I dance for the NO that wins she replied. I do not want to leave the Eurozone,” she said. 60% of the Greek young generation voted NO at this referendum. Most of them do not want to leave the Eurozone. Nevertheless, some hours later the messages arriving from Brussels opened the Eurozone exit door to Greece. Leaders of the European institutions like the President of the European Parliament, the president of the Eurogroup, the leader of the European Popular Party concluded that NO means that the negotiations between the Greek government of Alexis Tsipras and European Union concerning the restructuring of the Greek debt arrived to the end. Greece decided NO and there is no more room left for maneuvers.
The minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Wolfgang Schauble the enemy of all NO voters
Faces of a divided nation between YES or NO
This sunny Sunday, Greeks went to the poll stations to vote YES or NO to more austerity measures. They left the poll stations having answered either to stay or to leave Eurozone. The problem is that they do not realize it yet. Misunderstanding or plot? Probably both. Alexis Tsipras, the charismatic leader of SYRIZA, played fully the populist card with the Greek people. He promised butter and honey to a country that risks not having even bread.
Still together – European and Hellenic flags
The Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) of the European Central Bank stops its loans to Greek banks Tuesday, July 7th; then Greek banks run out of money, go bankrupt and the country collapses. The dances in Syntagma square give their place to frustration and anger. Greece enters into the turmoil. Probably today is the last day I am queuing in front of the ATM to get my daily 60 euros. By Tuesday all my savings behind the ATM will have vanished. The day after, I will have to queue in front of the grocery store to get my daily portion of bread. So where’s milk and honey?
Photo credit: Dimitrios Machairidis
