Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras launched his grassroots reconnection with citizens in Nikaia — one of his strongholds — addressing all current issues with a sharp focus on the cost-of-living crisis. The choice of this working-class neighborhood in the Piraeus B’ constituency was deliberate. Tsipras wanted to kickstart a conversation about the issues weighing on ordinary citizens from a popular, down-to-earth community like Nikaia.
It is worth recalling that SYRIZA recorded 20.35% in this municipality in the June 2023 elections, and the party’s support in the area remains high to this day.
Politically, Alexis Tsipras made it clear he has not returned to the spotlight to settle for second place — he is here to claim power. “What happened on May 26 was unprecedented in post-dictatorship Greek politics. SYRIZA became the official opposition not just in the polls, but in the conscience of the Greek people. If we became the official opposition in just a few hours, in a few months we will become the government — whenever elections are called,” he emphasized.
In his speech, he spoke about the difficult economic conditions faced by a range of everyday citizens — a student, a shopkeeper, a pensioner, a nurse, and others. Tsipras stressed that SYRIZA aims to represent working people.
Referring to the Prime Minister, he said: “He is obsessed with winning the first round of elections because he believes that if there is a second round, the country will be lost. I don’t quite understand him — three years ago he said he would go to two rounds no matter what, and back then he didn’t call it instability.”
Alexis Tsipras: “Mitsotakis is right to be afraid”
He added: “Mitsotakis seems to fear a second round of elections — and he is right to be afraid. When 97% of citizens say in polls that the country has become corrupt in recent years, when over 70% call for political change, and when the majority says ‘we were better off in 2019 than we are today’ — when all of this is happening, it tells you: ‘if we go to a second round, we’re done.'”
The leader of SYRIZA addressed a statement by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis about the upcoming elections: “They tell us it’s a choice between stability and instability, and that they represent stability.” On pensions, he said: “We brought one billion euros back to pensioners, and the first thing the government did in 2019 was cut that billion. It’s been seven years — so they have cut seven billion euros.” Turning to the cost-of-living crisis and the scandals plaguing the government, he declared: “This is not stability. The dilemma of the next elections is stagnation or progress, corruption or integrity.” “Corruption has exploded in a way that I don’t think this country has ever experienced before. We are here not only for political change, but for a change of policies. One of the problems with those who govern us is that they have no understanding of ordinary people. Those who govern us must have empathy for ordinary people — for working people.”
He continued: “On the dilemma posed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis about instability if New Democracy falls from power — is it stability when your salary runs out by the 15th of the month? Is it stability to have the highest supermarket prices and the lowest wages?” “The dilemma of the next elections is stagnation or progress, corruption or integrity,” he concluded.
Tsipras also took a sharp jab at the Maximos Mansion’s “three-digit hotline,” quipping that “Mr. Mitsotakis must have abolished it and now communicates directly with his ministers through Predator.” He also addressed national governance issues, saying SYRIZA would not accept lessons from a government that emptied the public coffers — “we left 37 billion euros in the public treasury, and they drained it.” He asked pointedly: “Are they going to lecture us on fiscal management? They will not lecture us on fiscal management.”
“We had 2.1% growth under the memoranda and 2.3% when we left in 2019”
On the cost-of-living crisis, Tsipras noted: “The government boasts about its so-called success story. Why? Because it claims 2% growth. But we had 2.1% growth while still under the memoranda, and 2.3% when we left in 2019.” He then presented data on inflation in Greece, pointing out that it is well above the European Union average. “The average gross salary in Greece is €18,000, compared to an EU average of €40,000. We have hit rock bottom. The existential challenge for this country in the coming years is to converge again with the European average,” the SYRIZA leader argued.
He also spoke about SYRIZA’s proposal for a guaranteed minimum energy allowance for every household — a measure that was ultimately abandoned. He noted that the public power utility DEI had sent a letter calling for investment and stated: “We don’t want a DEI run by investment funds — we want a DEI in the service of citizens and consumers.”
On the housing crisis, he said: “We want to take loans back from the funds and have a public body negotiate with each borrower individually” — outlining SYRIZA’s second key proposal on housing. He also called for free public transport for all residents of the Attica basin and Thessaloniki, saying the measure had been fully costed, “provided, of course, that public transport services are strengthened. Public transport must be publicly run and must serve the citizen.”
On education, he remarked: “Sixty years have passed and we have kept the same system because, as a state, we have not been able to show society something more transparent. In 2018, we proposed a system that abolished university entrance exams as they exist today.” He also commented that schools must stop functioning as examination centers and instead become places where students can get the tutoring support they need — so they no longer have to attend costly private cramming schools.
The “Now We Speak” event featured contributions from 18-year-old Melina Karra, who recently graduated and sat the 2026 national university entrance exams; Vaios Prapas, a musician; Dimitris Mitsotakis, a shopkeeper and board member of the Nikaia Merchants’ Association; Giorgos Athanasiadis, a Piraeus municipal councilor and board member of the Secondary Education Teachers’ Federation (ELME); Vasilis Manolakos, a contract worker at the COSCO terminal in Piraeus port and a founding member and board member of the COSCO Terminal Workers’ Union; EFKA pensioner Iakovos Linardos; Dimitra Georgouli, a kindergarten teacher; Triandafyllia Tselekidou, a graduate of the Athens School of Fine Arts, mother of two, and long-time contributor to local government and community service; and Pegky Kopana, a nurse at Tzaneio Hospital.
Among those attending the event were Giorgos Vasiliadis, Dionysis Temponeras, presenter Thanasis Patras who moderated the event, as well as Grigoris Theodorakis, Marizeta Antonopoulou, Athina Linou, and SYRIZA spokesperson Theoni Koufonikоlakou.
