So now we know what has been constantly upsetting politicians in the many crunchy and childish Greek creditor conversations ... a word that will have been repeatedly corridor whispered, then officially mentioned or even shouted and eventually tabled .... referenduuuuuum .... ooohhh ...on a mere national level the tyranny of the majority, a terrifying event for modern day politicians who claim to persistently and properly represent their electorate but which is really as civilized and old as ancient Rome.
On the multi-national level though which so pluri-characterizes the troika group, the tyrannical threat comes from a very small minority, that is the Greek electorate. It's not going to work. It seems ages ago but it really was just at the end of 2011 when Merkel and Sarkozy rushed to the Cote d'Azur to convince the then Greek prime-minister Papandreou to withdraw his outspokenness on a referendum under very scaringly similar conditions.
I am going have to admit that Varoufakis' early tweet to subscribe his prime-minister's outcry for a referendum - returning the issue back to the people - with an additional remark of "funny how radical that sounds" bore a very evident truth. The current Greek government has done and to some extent is still doing what it can and that does not include impressing not to mention convincing their creditors and still political partners in the first place.
Let's be real, the neh or oxi shouting people that occupy "Constitution" square in Athens are not saying yes or no to an increase of a VAT rate or a retirement age but they are, once again, driven by their perception of whether their great nation should be looking west or east, liberal or orthodox for some sense of belonging and that does not create a basis for a very clear referendum, but then again working out the details has just not been part of their culture and that is indeed something an EEC, EU or Eurozone has dealt with rather poorly albeit patiently.
I suspect that a no vote will actually bring more comfort and even stability (back) to the negotiations than a yes vote.
A no vote will generate more of the sad same and we are already seeing hints that another pardon of debt is the financially responsible step to take under the circumstances. A yes vote, however, will probably cause a current government to step down and thus introduce an unprecedented situation wherein a population of commoners will legally and directly bind themselves with foreign institutions without a government of their own to commission the execution of what is consented.
In the very early stage of this blog I sought to observe that politicians too are human beings and which person even if only driven by a passion for his people and country would want to take up public office just to scroll through messages decreed from foreign soil before his/her (divided) population. I'm a afraid that in a best case scenario that messenger will be killed slowly.
Then we certainly will arrive at an ungovernable situation. Does the current Greek government know this ? They probably do. Do they care ?
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