Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland told The Associated Press that international standards recommend that a referendum be held with at least two weeks’ notice to allow sufficient time for discussion, with a clear question put to the people and with international observers monitoring the vote.
Greece’s referendum on whether to accept creditor demands in return for bailout funds was called Saturday, and there has been confusion as to whether the result of a “no” vote as the government recommends would lead the country out of the 19-nation eurozone.
The vote “has been called on such a short notice, that this in itself is a major problem,” Jagland said Wednesday by phone from Lisbon, Portugal. “And also the fact that the questions that are put to the people ... are not very clear.” [AP]
ekathimerini.com
1/7/15
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- Human rights body the Council of Europe has said the referendum, which will ask Greeks if they want to accept their creditors' proposals, would "fall short of international standards" if held as planned on Sunday.
The body's Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland told AP that the fact the vote "has been called on such a short notice... is a major problem", and criticised the lack of clarity in the question to be put to voters.
The letter to creditors shows that Mr Tsipras was prepared to accept a deal put forward last weekend, if a few changes were agreed.
Greece's national broadcaster ERT says Mr Tsipras would accept a deal with only minor requests for changes.
European markets surged on the news Greece might be willing to accept a deal.
But the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said no new bailout talks would be possible before Greece holds Sunday's referendum....
BBC
1/7/15
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European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis told German newspaper Die Welt that the question Greeks are due to vote on in a referendum planned for Sunday was neither factually nor legally correct...
ReplyDelete"The suggestions of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund which are to be voted on refer to a credit program that has expired in the meantime," he said in an interview published on Friday.
"The Eurogroup has neither accepted nor rejected them. They also don't correspond with the current status of negotiations. When (Greek Prime Minister Alexis) Tsipras announced the referendum, we were still in the middle of talks."
jpost by Reuters
3/7/15