Greece Should Hold Referendum on Reform Program, SEV Head Says

Bloomberg
May 25, 2011

Greece should hold a referendum on whether to pursue more austerity measures to give politicians a clear mandate, President of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises Dimitris Daskalopoulos said.

“Do we proceed down the road European prospects offer us, with the terms and sacrifices required to stay in the eurozone,” Daskalopoulos said in a speech in Athens yesterday. “Or do we depart and proceed on our own, without the terms but also without the billions of our partners?”

Prime Minister George Papandreou, whose term ends in 2013, is seeking political backing for a new round of spending cuts and asset sales that run through 2015, as the euro region and the International Monetary Fund discuss additional financing Greece needs to avert a default. Greece got a 110 billion-euro ($154.4 billion) bailout from the European Union and IMF last May in exchange for measures including wage and pension cuts and higher sales taxes.

Government spokesman George Petalotis said May 18 that the country isn’t headed toward early national elections and that ruling party Pasok has the trust of the Greek people.

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