[asuffield]

So they promised something they couldn't deliver and now haven't delivered it. This appears to have done nothing to help the situation. "Blackmail" might not be precisely the right word, but you could perhaps argue it's some kind of fraud? It's certainly a failure of their entire platform.

[jacobolus]

If they have a referendum, that gives renewed democratic legitimacy to whichever side wins. Considering how much is at stake, that seems entirely reasonable to me. Democracy is something Europe in general could use a whole lot more of these days.

Right now, Greece is stuck between a rock and a hard place: agreeing to the Troika’s demands for continued austerity and see another 5 years of economic depression with no end in sight in a way that sells out their campaign promises, vs. leave the Eurozone and see possibly immediate even more dramatic economic collapse but with a potential way out of the mess through a currency under Greek control more appropriate exchange rates.

[crdoconnor]

AFAIK they made no promises to stay in the Eurozone. They just said that they would try.

Given the way that the negotiations are going, they were essentially faced with a choice of slashing pensions and wages to the bone (wouldn't have helped with paying the debt back, incidentally) or... plan B.