Greek Referendum: Papandreou’s ‘Margaret Thatcher Moment?'

The Greek referendum proved to be a nasty surprise to investors on Tuesday as markets tanked in response to it.

The referendum from Prime Minister Papandreou puts the Eurozone-conceived bailout-austerity plan in the hands of the Greek people. Investors fear that the Greeks will reject the plan and cause a disorderly default of Greek debt and the country's exit from the Eurozone.

Some analysts cast this as a desperate move from an increasingly isolated politician. Indeed, Papandreou's government now only has a precarious two-seat majority in the parliament.

Douglas Borthwick, managing director at Faros Trading, thinks such fears are to a large extent, unfounded.

By wording his referendum as being a vote to stay within the EU, I believe he will gain a mandate from the Greek people, said Borthwick.

He cited polls that show 70 percent of Greeks are against leaving the Eurozone and euro currency. To get a pro-Eurozone vote, the referendum only needs more than 50 percent of the vote.

With this popular support, which will be brought to light with the referendum, Papandreou could have his Margaret Thatcher moment, said Borthwick.

During her tenure as British Prime Minister, one of Thatcher's signature economic policies was privatization.

Under her direction, the UK government sold off tens of billions of dollars worth of nationally-owned companies, which helped to reduce the country's debt.

Borthwick and other experts credit this move to moving the UK's debt levels to more sustainable levels. Moreover, these now-private companies became more efficiently-run and turned from tax consumers to tax payers.

He believes the Thatcher plan would work well for the indebted Greece.

He said the larger margin the referendum passes by, the greater ability Papandreou will have to go further with his privatization efforts.