Exactly what the Greek ballot says and what it means
Greeks will vote in a referendum on the bailout proposal on Sunday in a monumental moment for the country.
Here is a copy of the ballot:
Here is what it says:
"Do you think that we should accept the framework for an agreement that has been proposed by the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund in the Eurogroup of 25/6/2015 and includes two parts that represent their common proposal?"
The second part lists the names of the two proposals in English and Greek.
It's a simple question but it's won't elicit the fears of something like 'do you want Greece to default'? Skewing the referendum question has been going on as long as referendums.
Also noteworthy is that the box for 'No' (OXI) is listed above 'Yes' (NAI).
Symbolism of OXI
The word 'OXI' has special significance in Greece. Oxi Day is a national holiday in Greece and represents their entry in the second world war when they rejected an ultimatum from Mussolini. An Italian invasion was repelled and beaten back into Albania. That forced the Nazis to delay and divert plans to attach Russia and instead begin the Battle of Greece. Hitler later blamed the failure of his invasion of the Soviet Union, which had to be delayed, on Mussolini's failed conquest of Greece.
It's easy for Tsipras to subtly draw the parallel between this vote and the history of Greek resistance.
