Why Greece’s yes campaign failed | David Patrikarakos

For Greeks many compelling reasons - practical, historical, existential - to vote no jostled each other for priority. In truth the yes campaign never stood a chance

Yes. It's such a simple word: so easy to say, so pleasing to hear. And, of course, it was the logical choice. At least according to EU officials, who spent much of last week pleading with Greeks to vote yes to the latest proposals put forward to them by their country's creditors. The EU's president, Jean-Claude Juncker, was almost disconcertingly emotional when last week he declared (somewhat elliptically, it must be said): "I will tell the Greeks, whom I love deeply, that you shouldn't choose suicide just because you are afraid of death " A no would mean, regardless of the question posed, that Greece had said no to Europe," he added, perhaps to clarify things.

But now, as I write this in the early hours of Monday morning, as the final votes in Greece's referendum come in, it's clear that the no campaign - with over 60% of the vote - has triumphed. Athenians are reacting to a critical political event with characteristic exuberance: in Syntagma Square outside the parliament, they wave Greek flags and cheer; nearby, in the anarchist stronghold of Exarchia, they set things on fire and fight the police.

Nothing is more emotive, and more pregnant with historical and political meaning for Greeks, than one simple word: no

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