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The Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos took a clear-cut position on the subject of the referendum during his meeting with the president of New Democracy, Antonis Samaras. Pavlopoulos emphasised that the Greek people want the country to remain in Europe and will show their maturity next Sunday. "The people know what is at stake. I believe that next Sunday the people will prove that they are mature."

A presidential decree will reportedly be issued to officially announce the referendum after yesterday's decision in parliament.

During his meeting with the President, Samaras reiterated his party’s familiar position on a "national red line that protects the country's place in the heart of Europe." He added: "At this point, the protection of this national position is increasingly hard and this red line is in immediate danger."

The Constitution stipulates that a referendum is only valid if at least 40% of those registered in electoral lists participate in it. This means that more than 4 million voters must go to the polls.

So rumours are making the rounds that the opposition parties can derail the referendum if they recommend their followers to shun it. A derailment is possible as the voters of Syriza, the Independent Greeks and Golden Dawn between them could not clear the 3 million line at the last election.

According to the constitution, the country’s president can neither judge whether there is enough reason for a referendum nor interfere over the wording of the question. Therefore, the only way for the president to prevent the referendum is to resign.

If this were to happen, he would be replaced by the parliament speaker, Zoe Konstandopoulou, but she is not entitled to sign a referendum decree. Thus, the president's resignation would lead to presidential elections, but if parliament fails to find 180 votes for a nominee, the country would end up having parliamentary elections as well.

Further details are expected.