Greek Court Rejects Appeal to Block Referendum

The two men had appealed to the court on the grounds that Greece’s constitution bars popular votes on fiscal issues. Greek voters are being asked to vote on Sunday on whether to accept international creditors’ demands for more austerity in return for bailout loans, Financial Times reported on Friday.

Court president Nikos Sakellariou said on Friday “the referendum will proceed normally”.

Lawyers representing the claimants, a lawyer and an engineer, argued that the plebiscite violated article 44 of the Greek constitution which specifically bans referendum questions on fiscal management and financial issues affecting the state.

The reasoning behind the decision was expected to be issued later in the day.

Because Greece does not have a constitutional court, Friday’s hearing took place before the 50-member council of state formed of senior judges whose normal job is to issue rulings on administrative rather than political matters.

Government lawyers said that as an administrative court the Council of State had no jurisdiction in a case involving an election. They said the Eklogodikeion, a special court that examines alleged election irregularities, should judge the case. However, the Eklogodikeion can only be convened after an election has taken place.

Earlier on Friday, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras seized on a report from the International Monetary Fund, saying Greece’s debt was unsustainable as he pressed for a No vote in the referendum.

Mr Tsipras said the IMF’s latest analysis of Greece’s debt burden justified his government’s rejection of a bailout extension proposal that included no plans for debt relief.

“Yesterday an event of major political importance happened,” Mr Tsipras said. “The IMF published a report on Greece’s economy which is a great vindication for the Greek government as it confirms the obvious — that Greek debt is not sustainable.”

He urged Greeks to vote “no to ultimatums, divisions and fear”.

Greece’s Syriza-led government has called for a No vote on the question of whether to accept the last proposal from creditors for an aid package, a proposal that has since been withdrawn.

Greece’s eurozone creditors have said a No vote would be tantamount to a rejection of the country’s membership of the single currency.

Mr Tsipras’s televised address on Friday calling for a No vote has added to concerns that the plebiscite is not being conducted in a fair manner according to international standards.

On Thursday, the IMF published a report saying Greece needed more than €60bn in new financial aid over the next three years and comprehensive debt relief from its eurozone creditors.

Greece has defaulted on a €1.6bn loan repayment to the International Monetary Fund becoming the first advanced economy to do so in the institution’s 71-year history.

But the IMF also said Mr Tsipras’s government was responsible for plunging the Greek economy back into crisis after an incipient recovery, thereby making Greece’s debt burden even more mountainous.

On Friday, Yanis Varoufakis, Greek finance minister, said a No vote would persuade his country’s creditors to return to the negotiating table with an offer of debt relief and that an accord “is more or less done”.

But Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, countered that if Greeks voted No “the Greek position is dramatically weakened".

“The programme has come to an end; there are no negotiations on their way. If Greeks vote No they will have done everything but strengthen the Greek position. The Greek position will be dramatically weakened by a No vote.”