“Our paths with Alexis Tsipras can and must converge”, said its president in an interview with ANT1 SYRIZA-PS, Socrates Famous and made it clear that he strongly disagrees with the assessment that “his move Alexis Tsipras it was disruptive.”

Said the president of SYRIZA: “We have a critical development with the departure of Alexis Tsipras. It was a matter of conscience, as Alexis Tsipras himself told me. From then on there is a reality and there is a question: what do we have in common? We have our common path, our history, the SYRIZA government. We also have a common goal of overturning government policy and forming a progressive government. There are different perspectives with parallel paths but with a common goal.

» These roads must converge. We will do everything we can to converge. And not only with Alexis Tsipras. I am talking about the convergence of the paths of all progressive forces. We asked that the roads converge with overpasses and with a progressive program and with a common ballot in the elections. I am strongly opposed to “the Tsipras move constitutes a split”. Our paths are not contradictory. We have proposed to have a joint proposal and a joint ballot. The proposal is for everyone and for PASOK and the New Left, might it not also be for Alexis Tsipras?”

Aiming his arrows at the government he argued: “I believe there is a plan to discredit politics from the system of power. The system of power passes the view to the citizens that everyone is the same and they are fighting for the seats. SYRIZA went through a major crisis of credibility and my commitment was from the beginning of my term that we would become a reliable party again. I don’t have maximalist goals. I am not saying that only SYRIZA can do it and that is why I am asking for cooperation. There are scandals and unreliability, the government feeds the toxicity. Even with the talk of patriotism which is ridiculous and dangerous. It is a project of division and toxicity that this debate is fueled by the government to hide that in fact the world is getting poorer, while on the other hand there are billions in profits”.

To the question of whether the harsh characterizations against the government – for example that “you are murderers” – fuel the toxicity, Sokratis Famellos answered: “I can answer for SYRIZA. I have spoken about the scandals and said that this government is dangerous and corrupt. Why did he not accept a preliminary investigation for Avgenakis and Voridis?”.

To the question of whether it is “toxic that the opposition insists on calling Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the Inquiry” he answered: “In the many attachments that were in the OPEKEPE file it is stated that the speakers wanted to talk to Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Shouldn’t we call him and ask him? When someone is called as a witness it does not mean that they are accused. There is evidence for the further investigation of Avgenakis and Voridis, which was prevented by a parliamentary coup by Mr. Mitsotakis.”

He referred to the problems of the agricultural world and blamed the government for the expansion and spread of sheep pox as well as for the long delays even in the payment of compensations from natural disasters. Condensing, he said: “The government does not have a priority to support the agricultural world. The farmers as well as the pensioners were deceived by Mr. Mitsotakis – who ordered them that he will give the 13th pension and failed to do so. With this government we risk losing money for farmers from the European Union. We are facing a huge demographic problem of desertification of the region”.