The electoral ultimatum issued on Wednesday by Alexis Tsipras — “us or no one” — predictably sparked fierce irritation within PASOK and its leader Nikos Androulakis. The former prime minister appeared to be staking his claim over the center-left political space, essentially arguing that a vote for SYRIZA is the only path to bringing down the New Democracy government.
“Citizens must search and consider who is capable of offering an alternative, realistic path. At the end of the day, as we approach the elections, what will become increasingly clear even to the average voter is this: either we continue with Mitsotakis or someone else in the same vein… or, if political change is to come, it will be brought by someone who is actually capable of delivering it. And the one who is capable — both in terms of polling numbers and governing experience — is SYRIZA. So, to put it plainly: it’s either us or no one. That’s the reality.”
PASOK fires back at Tsipras’s “us or chaos” ultimatum
The response from PASOK headquarters on Harilaou Trikoupi Street made clear that the party believes Tsipras’s primary objective is to politically “vaporize” them. “After ‘Mitsotakis or chaos,’ we now have the dilemma of ‘Tsipras or chaos,’ presented with an abundance of arrogance and self-admiration by a politician who was defeated — both as prime minister and as leader of the official opposition — by the largest margin ever recorded in the post-junta era, achieving the unthinkable: instead of weakening the leading party, he caused the collapse of his own party at the ballot box,” the party stated pointedly.
Tsipras turns up the pressure on PASOK and targets center-left voters
This exchange made it clear that the long-running rivalry between the two parties over poll dominance will continue at least until election day. Given that SYRIZA under Alexis Tsipras is actively seeking to attract new voters from the center-left camp, all signs point to an increasingly sharp confrontation between the two sides.
The former prime minister also signaled that pressure on PASOK will intensify in the coming weeks. In an interview on SKAI television, he laid out his reasoning for why any other center-left vote would be wasted: “Life forces dilemmas upon us. Is there anyone today who can beat Mitsotakis? They’ll say no one. But if there is someone, it’s the one who is closest to him in strength — the one with governing experience, the one who can run the country, the one who has a realistic plan. A protest vote is all well and good, but at the end of the day, the hard dilemmas will set in, as they always do. Will the path of corruption and inequality continue, or is it time for an alternative, honest plan with a vision for the future?” He also pointedly added that Nikos Androulakis had three full years in which he could have surpassed Kyriakos Mitsotakis — and failed to do so.
PASOK officials hit back, referring to “clique parties and closed power systems that act as gatekeepers for vested interests, incapable of challenging the establishment or changing the course of the country.”
