“We are asking for the vote of the citizens for a first chance to judge SYRIZA PS with its own program, without the troika over our heads”, emphasizes the president of SYRIZA-PS Alexis Tsipras.

In an interview he gave to “Real news”, Mr. Tsipras accuses him Kyriakos Mitsotakis that having this opportunity he “distributed money not to society, not to support the welfare state, but to a caste of elites, party nomenclature and businessmen’s friends”. “That’s why we say ‘Justice everywhere.’ Enough with state-fed oligopoly capitalism, injustice and inequalities. So far with the decadence that bears the signature of Mitsotakis”.

Mr. Tsipras emphasizes that citizens can expect from SYRIZA PS that they will have a government that listens to the problems and seeks realistic solutions, “not a prime minister dominated by the arrogance of power, who does not care, a government that is indifferent, arrogant, who does not even understand his dead ends and works only for the profits of ten giants.’ The citizen, says the president of SYRIZA, will be sure that “he will not have “Patsides” take his house, but his debts will be settled, he will see a policy that will reduce inequalities and injustice, increase income of, it will reduce bills and prices that have been climbing every month for 2.5 years now, and yes, it will also reduce taxation.” He commented that “4.5 billion more tax revenue from indirect taxes for 2022 alone, you don’t call it relief for the vulnerable and middle class”. He announces that during the presentation of the party’s “holistic” program, which also includes a program for the first 50 days, the first legislative initiatives aimed at dealing with punctuality will be announced. He pointed out that the programming framework is known. One strand will concern price reductions: a reduction in VAT on food and excise duty on fuel, together with intensive controls will lead to price reductions and an end to the profiteering subsidy rally, as will the renationalisation of PPC and the imposition of a ceiling on its price current. The second part concerns targeted measures to increase income: increase of the minimum wage to 880 euros, 10% increase for civil servants, establishment of a single tax-free allowance for all at 10,000 euros, abolition of the pretense fee, return of retroactive and 13th pension to pensioners.

Alexis Tsipras notes that “politically and morally, only with the first Sunday of the simple analog Mitsotakis leaves and a progressive government comes. Only the vote for SYRIZA spells the end of profiteering, of the “Patsides”, of Mr. Mitsotakis. He comments that Mr. Mitsotakis “is fighting in the shadows because he considers any government, which he will not lead exclusively as a monarch by the mercy of God, to be a “monstrosity”. “This is the height of arrogance and establishment logic and reflects the ownership view he has of the country as a family plot,” he adds. He emphasizes that SYRIZA wants a stable, long-term progressive government based on programmatic convergences and “this cannot be achieved if SYRIZA-PS is a second party, because the math doesn’t work out and politically I don’t consider it moral…”.

Asked how SYRIZA could cooperate with MeRA25, “a party that leaves open the possibility that the banks will be closed”, Mr. Tsipras said that “before the elections, everyone can say what they think for their own reasons it suits him. Post-election, however, convergences and collaborations are made on the basis of specific programmatic commitments”. He points out that the first party has the first say and emphasizes that SYRIZA is concerned about “the Mitsotakis system and its defeat and not some Demetra plan”. He comments that it is not banks that are at risk with bankruptcy, but workers, households and businesses. “And the credibility of all those who, in one way or another, play along with such serious issues and give passes to the isolated Mr. Mitsotakis is also at risk,” he further comments.

Mr. Tsipras argues that now every leader is trying to win the maximum and that “the day after the ballot box that will show the first party SYRIZA PS, and correlations that will reflect the popular mandate for the formation of a cooperation government, the data will change radically” . “Then,” he adds, “all the parties that define themselves as progressive will have to answer the dilemma of whether they will give a chance to change, or a chance to Mr. Mitsotakis and the adventure of new elections. And for their attitude they will be judged not by us, but by the ruling people.”

The president of SYRIZA declares that he is sure that “the outgoing Mr. Mitsotakis will do everything to prevent his downfall”. He mentions, among other things, that “Mr. Velopoulos denounced very specific things”, while he comments: “And I am not afraid that he will govern with MPs from other parties, he has openly stated that he intends to do so. Trojan horses exist. Except that it won’t work out for him, because he will lose the elections.” He argues that “the only solution for stability against the intemperance of Mitsotakis is the SYRIZA PS” and that Mr. Mitsotakis “is trapped in the strategic impasse of self-reliance due to the inability to find a partner”. “Unless”, he comments, “if we get to see collaboration between the listener and the watched. In such a scenario, of course, it would be interesting to see exactly what the political convergences will be in two supposedly conflicting programs.”

Asked about Greek-Turkish relations and what the next steps should be, he mentions that in his recent meeting with German Chancellor Scholz, Mr. Tsipras said that he pointed out that the time has come to reactivate a Euro-Turkish agenda that includes security issues, economy and culture. “This agenda will include a progressive Greek-Turkish agenda, which will shield Greece and Cyprus, will include our red lines and which will ultimately lead to The Hague,” he declares.

When asked about the Georgoulis case, he notes that “in such personal and criminal cases, the parties are judged on their attitude towards the potential offense, that is, if they will condemn unequivocally and directly or if they will attempt to cover it up”. He adds that “in a much more heinous case, Mr. Mitsotakis chose the path of cover-up for almost a month, despite public complaints”, while “SYRIZA PS from the first moment condemned and expelled his MEP and took a clear position in his favor victim. No asterisks, no equal distances.” “Justice now has the floor,” he says.

When asked why he changed his mind about the ouster of Polakis, Mr. Tsipras mentions, among other things, that he has proven that he does not calculate the political cost, to add that “Pavlos made a mistake and he acknowledged it. In politics, as in society, the death penalty should have no place. That’s what I always believed and I still believe today”