© Joel Saget/AFP/Getty ImagesThis is my 'concerned' face: Nicolas Sarkozy makes a statement after a cabinet meeting focusing on the Greek PM's shock referendum announcement.
George Papandreou's socialist government is on the brink of collapse after his referendum plan sparked an angry reaction within his own party and plunged Europe back into turmoil, just days after a complex rescue deal had been agreed - requiring Greece to embark on tough cost-cutting measures.
While Papandreou's cabinet approved unanimously his decision to hold a referendum, it threatens to split the prime minister's Pasok party. One MP, Milena Apostolaki, has quit in disgust at the idea of a referendum and several colleagues have said that if it is not abandoned they will join her. Papandreou faces a vote of confidence on Friday. A split in the Pasok party would almost certainly bring down the Greek government, which now has a majority of just two MPs in parliament.
Comment: It's important to keep in mind during this era of purposely generated economic and financial crises that when the media tells us that the "Greek government is teetering on the brink of collapse" or "the euro is in turmoil again" or "the markets plunged on the news that XYZ", what they're really doing is conveying the message to leaders like Papandreou and the masses at large that their insolence will not stand. They will be crushed and will submit to "austerity measures" (slavery) one way or another. And they do that primarily by deliberately creating turmoil on the markets, speculating and gambling currencies to give the impression that they can pull the rug out from under a whole country's economy.