Greece to gamble on debt deal referendum

TAKING a huge political gamble, Greece’s prime minister announced yesterday that his debt-strapped country will hold a referendum on the new European debt deal reached last week — the first such vote in 37 years.

Prime Minister George Papandreou appeared to take many lawmakers by surprise by saying that a hard-bargained agreement that took months for Europe’s leaders to hammer out will be put to a public ballot.

He gave no other details on the proposed referendum, which would be the first in Greece since 1974, when the monarchy was abolished by a landslide vote months after the collapse of a military dictatorship.