Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made a political intervention with the event of the eponymous Institute for the accuracy and prospects of the Greek Economy.

In his speech, Mr. Tsipras noted: “The big national issue is reversing the course of impoverishment and divergence with an economy based only on tourism and real estate. The new national goal – equivalent to joining the EEC in the 1970s and 1980s, joining the Eurozone in the 1990s and exiting the crisis in 2010 must be to accelerate convergence in terms of social cohesion and justice, in terms of inclusion of the popular strata who turned their backs to keep the country standing».

The former prime minister underlined the need to “confront the big interests to ensure both healthy competition and the reduction of inequalities” and explained:

  • with fair taxation of large wealth and large incomes, reversing the mix of indirect/direct taxes and tackling tax evasion,
  • with a banking sector that supports innovation and small and medium entrepreneurship, rather than replicating customer practices and supporting oligopolies
  • by creating an over-the-counter energy market where prices will be set on the basis of bilateral contracts, as is done in the rest of Europe, and not by four companies controlling to raise prices. Further development of energy communities that will significantly reduce prices.

He claimed that “medium term growthin a sustainable way is the necessary and basic condition, without which the country will be faced with existential challenges.

Reported on political developments and indirectly to the internal parties of SYRIZA and the processes in the Center-Left saying: “The current imbalance of the political system, if it is not restored from the left, the danger is that it will be restored even further to the right. From the rise of the Far Right, as we see happening in a number of European countries. The only comforting and actually hopeful thing is that something is slowly starting to move. No, at the political opposition level. There “no one” continues to lead in all polls. But at the level of social opposition».

He added that “without social processes there cannot be a political subject of change. This is also shown by the example of the New Popular Front in France, and Lucy Castells reminded us with her intervention today. Its formation was not an artificial fusion from above, but a demand of the social opposition, in the neighborhoods, unions, universities, workplaces. An expression of the struggles of a society that gave and is giving battles in the streets and in fact won many of themi”.

He went on to argue that “No plan of reforms and ruptures will be implemented if it does not first express and mobilize the majority of our society. The forces of production and creation. Of healthy entrepreneurship that suffocates in the context of corruption. Of our young scientists, who continue to emigrate from the country. Of the modern underprivileged who are gradually beginning to realize that this situation must change. Of the great majority that today declares that it cannot make ends meet. And that sooner or later it will demand and obtain the political representation it deserves».

Mr. Tsipras supported the need for a central role of a “strategic, developmental state against the bureaucratic state which is a mechanism for the reproduction of client relationships, the protection of oligopolies and the management of interests that reaches the border of pareocracy”.

It was also mentioned “to the need for a deep reform of the public administration in order to strengthen the possibilities of the state to fulfill its developmental and social role, in the face of the practices of the staff state that assigned to private consulting companies more and more critical functions of the administration».

At the same time, he said there must be reforms in the institutions and especially in the Judiciary. Shielding and strengthening of independent authorities and especially the Competition Authority.

Condensing, he underlined: “The country immediately needs a big development shock, similar to the counterparts of the Trikoupis and Venizelos period, in order not to lose the convergence train for good. The implementation of a National Reconstruction Plan must be a priority with a horizon of 2030. A National Reconstruction Plan with the central role of a strategic developmental state. A State of Responsibility and not of Complicity. With proper and transparent utilization of European resources. With reforms in critical areas of public administration, justice, education and shielding of institutions. With a clear, multi-year, realistic, sustainable plan of public and private investments as a priority in the critical sectors of infrastructure, human capital, the National Health System».