‘We don’t need EU permission’: Greek parliament ratifies bailout referendum
As an equal member of the EU, Greece does not need to ask permissions from anyone to let the Greek people speak and have their voices heard, PM Tsipras told his parliament, promising that the state’s sovereignty and future will be decided via referendum.
Referendums have been used all across Europe as a way for people to directly express their will and have their voices heard, and Greece is fully in its right to conduct one PM Alexis Tsipras said during a late-night debate in parliament.
The message from a number of Finance Ministers today-with a number of exceptions--was that #democracy should be stifled. #Greece#vouli
— Alexis Tsipras (@tsipras_eu) June 27, 2015
With Tsipras’ ruling coalition holding 163 seats in the 300-seat parliament, the body has backed Tsipras’ motion to hold a referendum.
The conditions for a new bailout deal and reforms proposed by Greece's creditors were an ultimatum and an insult, Tsipras said. During the rowdy debate in the Greek Parliament, the main opposition party, New Democracy, briefly walked out over a dispute with the parliamentary speaker, but later returned.
“We exhausted every limit of concessions so there could be an agreement,” Tsipras said. “Perhaps some saw that as a weakness.”
We don't need to ask permission from Mr. Schäuble or Mr. Dijsselbloem to let the voice of the Greek people to be heard. #Greece#vouli
— Alexis Tsipras (@tsipras_eu) June 27, 2015
“The day of truth is coming for the creditors, the time when they will see that Greece will not surrender, that Greece is not a game that has ended,” he said, concluding his address by calling on all Greeks to reject the “ultimatum” with a “resounding NO.”
READ MORE: Greek debt crisis: Eurogroup shifting towards 'Plan B'
The head of the International Monetary Fund meanwhile said that creditors "will continue to work" to keep Greece within the single currency zone. She said the Eurogroup "always showed flexibility to adjust to the new political and economic situation in Greece," rejecting Tsipras’ claims that his country was facing an ultimatum.
“I certainly hope that the bundled payment due to the IMF on Tuesday night, at the latest, will be paid,” Lagarde told CNBC in a separate interview.
The EU Council President Donald Tusk also warned that Athens must stay within the single currency zone no mater what the outcome of the referendum might be.
"Greece is and should remain euro area member," Tusk tweeted after eurozone finance ministers refused to extend the bailout agreement on Saturday, adding he remains "in contact with leaders to ensure integrity of euro area of 19 countries."
