Greek referendum plan 'confusing,' says Azumi

Things just get so "confusing" when governments actually take the time and effort to ask the people what they want in exceptional circumstances, such as when the livelihoods and financial stakes of millions of people are threatened. My guess is that Jun Azumi has never had to deal with such confusion before.

How ironic, after thousands upon thousands of invasions,wars and battles Europe needs help from Asian countries. Thousands upon thousands of years of pillaging other countries. Greece needs a bailout.

Simply Amazing.

I hope this guy "Azumi" understands what he is dealing with. It is too bad Japan already bought 20% of Euro debt while others are not. Japan DOES NOT have to commit anything more unless all G20 including China and US agree to commit equal % of GDP to rescue Euro.

Unlike other countries, Japan just had the worst natural disaster in century. Restoring Tohoku is a first priority and the world understands that. Hope this guy is tough enough to represent for Japan in negotiations on global arena.

In the past, I witnessed many Japanese diplomats were not skilled in global negotiations, and I am expressing my concern here on JT. Good luck, Azumi!

Greece has got to be the dictionary definition of an entitlement mentality country. The country is broke, can’t pay its debts, living from day to day on handouts and the people are unwilling to make any sacrifice that impacts their gravy train. Margret Thatcher said it best… “The problem with socialism is; sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.”

Azumi thinks its confusing??? I am sure thats the way many countries have felt about Japanese economic management over the last 20 years...

@NewsmanNov. 03, 2011 - 08:46AM JST Things just get so "confusing" when governments......

No.... confusing is when you offer a starving man, who is driving a Rolls Royce, food for his family and a compact car to get him to work, if he gets rid of the Rolls Royce...and he refuses to get rid of the Rolls Royce.

Read the headline and the quote carefully. The headline infers that HE HIMSELF finds the referendum confusing ( which may or not be true ) while the quote COULD mean that he only believes others find it confusing. Paraphrasing can also be confusing.

A referendum is the right thing to do, however, the way it is done is not. It should have been part of the initial negotiations. The people have to decide since they will have to pay for it in the end. If the people decide against it, all that will happen is what should have happened in 2008 already. The banks and the stock market will most likely collapse and force us to reform the system that desperately needs to be reformed. We need transparent and direct democracy as well as accountability for all citizens as well as all institutions including governments, financial institutions, businesses and even international institutions such as the UN need to be reformed and become transparent, accountable and operate with a direct democratic system. Ironically those that go to war against Iraq, Libya and others to bring Those ideals of "democracy" are the least democratic of all and wont even accept a democratic vote at the UN or UNESCO if such does not go their way. Why the Greek curve ball may end up being a good test for our world. It will most certainly cause hardship in the short run. Nevertheless, in the long run it may very well prove to be positive.

Please tell me Azumi-san said, "It's all Greek to me!"

France and Germany have issued a rare statement stating if Greece goes ahead witha referendum or is forced into a general election, there will be no bail out money for the country.

I think they said that if the result of the referendum is negative, there will be no more bail out money... Don't worry people. I am sure that Papandreou won't last many more days. There are many influential people within his own Party who think that this decision was suicidal and i am sure they won't let it happen.

It would be interesting to see what the result of this referendum would be though. I guess that many readers expect that to be a "no", but something tells me that this might not be the case. Yes, we Greeks are stubborn, suicidal, old fashioned, loud, etc....but we are not stupid in any case.

The whole issue reminds me a lot of the period 2-3 years before the Athens Olympics when everybody was criticizing Greece for the delay in the constructions, the lack of safety measures, etc.... Greece was about to lose the organization and when this thing was announced to the public, miraculously, everything started working out and all projects were completed in time for one of the best Olympic Games organization ever. In any case, i am planing to go and vote for "YES" in the Euro and the stability of the Eurozone.

that's how it was worded on the the BBC News this morning. Basically, the EU can't wait for a referendum or general election?

Zichi, i am reading all major news sites since Monday. That's exactly what the BBC said:

The next 8bn euros of rescue loans will be withheld from Greece until after its referendum on the eurozone rescue plan, European leaders say.

So, they would wait to see the result of the referendum in order to decide whether they will go on with the rescue plan or not. In any case, i doubt that the referendum is going to be held, even though it would be better to do so, (now that it was announced). After all, the situation became too complicated and risky for Greece and i don't see an easy way out.

No, Euro is on its life support. They cannot afford to wait. The initial proposal for referendum is 12/18 and Greece will run out of money by end of November. This is a reason why I am totally against TPP. Other countries will decide Japan's fate if everything goes wrong.

Thinking about Azumi's quote a bit more, I believe "confused" might not be the best translation for his statement. Most of the time when I hear Japanese speak English and use the word "confused", I realize that a better translation (to my ear, anyway) would be "upset".

Ironically, it is unclear whether a referendum is constitutional at all. The Greek constitution does allow forms of direct democracy, but it expressly prohibits it in financial matters. Meanwhile there is speculation in Athens, it could be merely a political maneuver to put pressure on the foreign rescuers.

Europe should go back to being Europe with all its sovereign countries. It worked, so why did they break it? The United States of Europe was a bad dream. Only America itself succeeded in doing that. No other country has the ability.

His strategy is understandable: A referendum would shield his (or future) governments from the pain - and the pain will be serious - this program will cause. More Greeks support the Euro than oppose austerity, and that is what the referendum comes down to: whether Greece wants to retain the Euro or return to its own currency.

If the Greeks don't go for it, however, the country faces unmitigated disaster. They will in essence have no functional currency except for a reissued drachma with a highly dubious viability. The country will struggle to maintain even bare subsistence, with fuel, food and medicine imports potentially completely halted. Private companies will be unable to arrange credit, and business will freeze. No sane person would want to take that road.

Let's hope the vote is held soon and that the Greeks recognize there is no other way out.

Europe should go back to being Europe with all its sovereign countries. It worked, so why did they break it? The United States of Europe was a bad dream. Only America itself succeeded in doing that. No other country has the ability.

JapanGal, your statement here seems to be contradicting while you are for TPP.

I agreed with your analysis for possible outcome if Greeks decide to leave EU. There will be no line of credit for Greeks. I have just heard Greeks decided to drop the referendum. Hope this is true......

MOD; Please add Laguna Nov. 03, 2011 - 03:19PM JST. to my comment above. It was left out . Thanks.

Haha...the referendum was canceled and Papandreou refuses to resign. I doubt he is at the right state of mind...