Athens, July 5
Initial results of Greek's
referendum on the signing of a new debt deal with creditors showed the
"No" campaign leading by a significant margin, the interior ministry
said on Sunday.
Of the 14.09 percent of votes counted till 8:33
p.m. on Sunday, 60.15 percent were "No" votes, while 39.85 percent were
"Yes" votes, the ministry said, according to ANA-MPA news agency.
In
the first estimates after the polling stations closed for voting,
polling firms said that 'No' was expected to lead by 3-4 percent in the
historic referendum that is expected to decide whether Greece will avert
a looming disorderly default and possible Grexit which could shake the
euro zone.
"NO" was expected to garner 52 percent of votes
against 48 percent for "YES", according to the survey conducted by
Metron Analysis polling firm private television ANT1 TV.
GPO experts gave a 51.5 percent to "NO" versus 48.5 percent to "YES", according to the estimates presented at MEGA TV.
"NO" was also leading by 51 against 48 for "YES" in Marc's survey for ALPHA TV.
In
the poll carried out by MRB polling firm the percentages respectively
were 49-54 percent for "NO" against 46-51 percent for "YES", according
to STAR TV.
MARC pollsters projected 49.5-54.5 percent for "NO" versus 45. 5-50.5 percent for "YES", according to ALPHA TV channel.
All
results were based on telephone interviews conducted on Saturday and
Sunday instead of the traditional exit polls outside exit booths,
according to Xinhua news agency.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel will travel to France on Monday for a meeting with French
President Francois Hollande to discuss the Greek debt crisis, said a
spokesperson of the German government on Sunday.
"A joint
assessment of the situation after the Greek referendum" will be one of
the issues of her talks with Hollande, spokesperson Steffen Seibert
said.
Greek citizens on Sunday voted in a historic referendum to
choose whether or not to accept a debt deal proposal tabled in late June
by the country's lenders.
Polling stations, about 19,000 in
number, opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. The first official
estimates by the interior ministry were expected at around 9 p.m.,
Xinhua reported.
Earlier in the day, Greece President Prokopis
Pavlopoulos appealed to the citizens to remain united regardless of the
outcome of Sunday's vote, according to ANA-MPA news agency.
According
to the Greek ministry of internal affairs and administrative reform,
about 8.5 million people were eligible to vote in the referendum.
Opinion
surveys ahead of the voting showed that the electorate was evenly
divided between "YES" and "NO". Polling firms did not conduct
traditional exit polls outside polling booths as the result was too
close to call.
Casting their ballots on Sunday, all political
leaders urged Greeks, irrespective of the results, to face the next day
united to overcome the crisis.
Ahead of the referendum, Greek
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged the Greek people to say "No" to the
proposals and that the "No" vote would be the chief argument which the
government would use as the basis for improving the parameters of the
agreement during further consultations with the creditors.
Main opposition conservative party leader Antonis Samaras called on Greeks to "vote YES to Greece, YES to Europe."
Voters
were given two ballots, one with the question of the referendum and a
blank one. Citizens were required to write a cross either in the box
under their preferred response, or on the left or right of their
response.
According to unofficial estimates from the interior
ministry shortly before the polls closed, the turnout was likely to
reach 60 percent.
Since July 1 Greece is already in arrears to
the International Monetary Fund -- and without the safety net of the
bailout programme that kept it afloat over the past five years -- is
teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
According to the interior ministry, the Greek referendum cost about 20 million euros.
