Friday marked the 10-year anniversary of a controversial – and ultimately futile – referendum called by the then Tsipras coalition government to provide a popular answer to what was billed as creditors’ final bailout offer to an ailing Greece.

What followed was political turmoil in the country, which suddenly became the top news item around the world due to the ominous prospect of “Grexit”, unprecedented capital controls that closed banks, and, in the end, a “no” vote by a 2 to 1 margin that eventually was “transformed” into a “yes” at the negotiating table with institutional creditors.

Participants of the crucial council of political party leaders, held on July 6, 2015, which was presided over by then president of the republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos, center.

Fast forward 10 years later and the most prominent protagonist of the era, former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, on Friday released a letter he sent to President of the Republic Konstantinos Tasoulas calling for the release of the minutes of a council of political party leaders held a day after the referendum – July 5, 2015 – and the decisive “no” result – 61.31% voted against the supposed terms offered by institutional creditors.

According to Tsipras, who was re-elected in a snap election a few months later in September, releasing the minutes will shed light on all the facets of the most tumultuous period in the country since the restoration of democracy in the summer of 1974.

“…the minutes contain the views of all (parliament-represented) parties (as expressed by their leaders), their assessments of the referendum and its result, but also the strategy that the Greek government should follow for the country to exit the quagmire of bankruptcy,” Tsipras wrote.

Negative reply by president

A reply by Tasoulas, as disseminated by his office, was immediate:

“As you know, the council of political leaders is not foreseen in the Constitution.  It is therefore an informal body whose meetings are held behind closed doors in the presence of only a minimum of necessary third parties (those taking the minutes),” Tasoulas, previously the Parliament president and a long-time New Democracy party lawmaker, said, while adding:

“What is discussed in the Council is confidential, as it concerns serious national issues, which is why the minutes are not communicated to the participants of the Council but remain with the Presidency of the Republic. The only disclosure that follows a Council of political leaders is the issuing of a joint communiqué,” the response read.

The coalition government at the time, comprised of leftist SYRIZA as the first-past-the-post party and the small right-wing populist Independent Greeks (ANEL), asked Greek voters to decide on two previous documents, entitled “Reforms for the Completion of the Current Program and Beyond” and “Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis.”

The two possible answers, beyond casting an invalid or blank vote, were “Not approved/No” and “Approved/Yes”.