Vote on austerity measures mooted
It was confirmed on Wednesday that Greece will hold a referendum later this year, but the government appeared divided over whether the vote will include a question about how the country should tackle its economic problems.
Parliament voted late on Tuesday in favor of holding a referendum aimed at getting the public?s approval for a series of constitutional changes. Although the government has not yet set out in detail what topics it will address, it may want to pave the way to make it easier to fire civil servants and to set up tax courts to give authorities greater power in pursuing people and businesses that owe money to the state.
However, Interior Minister Haris Kastanidis suggested to MPs on Wednesday that that referendum would contain a question that would allow Greeks to state their opinion on how the government is tackling the economic crisis.
?The question that will be posed will relate to the fundamental interests of the Greek people in the face of the fiscal and economic crisis,? said Kastanidis. ?It will involve a question or questions that will relate to the crucial economic and fiscal situation.?
The minister did not give any further details apart from saying that the question that will be put to Greek voters later this year will not be easy.
In a poorly attended parliamentary session, veteran PASOK MP Apostolos Kaklamanis declared his opposition to posing questions about the economic crisis. ?I hope and I ask that we do not get involved in a process that will heighten the pain and make the problem worse,? he said.
New Democracy MP Nikos Dendias asked if the government was prepared to step down and call elections if it did not get adequate support in the referendum.
However, government spokesman Ilias Mossialos appeared to play down Kastanidis?s suggestion that the referendum would pose any questions about Greece?s economic problems. He indicated that no such thing had been discussed at a cabinet level. ?There has been no government decision on the content of the referendum,? he said.
Health Minister Andreas Loverdos and Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou also expressed surprise at Kastanidis?s comments and voiced doubt over whether one of the questions in the referendum could be about the handling of the economic crisis.
