Athens: Rival rallies swelled in central Athens on Friday ahead of a referendum. The Greek government called to bolster it in its struggle with creditors, even though polls now show public support swinging against it. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged voters to ignore European scaremongering and vote 'No' in this weekend's referendum as polls showed support swinging behind the 'Yes' campaign.
Police said 25,000 people had gathered for the pro-government demonstration urging a 'No' vote in Sunday's plebiscite, while 20,000 for a 'Yes' outcome yelled pro-European slogans just 800 metres (yards) away, separated by police with riot shields.
PM Alexis Tsipras, who was expected to address the 'No' rally later Friday, went on television earlier to urge voters to ignore European scaremongering that the ballot could lead to Greece crashing out of the euro. But many Greeks are jumping into the 'Yes' camp because of that fear and because of a heightened sense of crisis brought on by capital controls this week that limit their daily ATM withdrawals to just 60 euros (USD 67).
Adding to that, a eurozone emergency fund officially declared Greece to be in default for not paying a 1.5-billion loan instalment to the International Monetary Fund loan earlier this week.
The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), Greece's single biggest creditor, said however it was not yet demanding immediate repayment of its loans worth 145 billion euros (USD 160 billion).
The two latest polls on the referendum showed voter intentions were now effectively tied -- a change from earlier published surveys that had indicated strong support for the government's 'No'.
An Alco institute poll Friday found 44.8 per cent of Greeks intend to vote 'Yes' and 43.4 percent are for ‘No'. A Bloomberg survey for Greece's Macedonia University was equally split, showing 43 percent to vote 'No' and 42.5 percent 'Yes'.
On Friday, Greece's top administrative court ruled the referendum could go ahead after rejecting a challenge by two citizens who argued its question was confusing and unconstitutionally dealt with a matter of "public finances".
Tsipras said on television the plebiscite was meant to "silence the sirens of destruction" by forcing creditors to finally accept his key demand of another round of debt relief. He stressed his decision to stop debt negotiations last week and announce the vote "does not mean a break with Europe".
Tsipras said Greece needed to trim its suffocating 323-billion-euro debt burden by having creditors forgive 30 percent of what they are owed and allowing a 20-year grace period for repaying the rest.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned in Brussels however that Greece's negotiating position, far from being strengthened, would be "dramatically weakened" in the event of a 'No'.
Even if the 'Yes' vote wins, there would still be "difficult" negotiations ahead, he added.
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