Alexis Tsipras expressed the view that the government has been “unsettled” by the emergence of ELAS, arguing that without a credible rival, the ruling party would have comfortably called snap elections in September — but now finds itself forced to exhaust every available month of its four-year term. Tsipras made these remarks during yesterday’s meeting of his party’s coordinators.
In his address, Alexis Tsipras touched on the pressing issue of the cost-of-living crisis, but devoted particular attention to internal party matters within ELAS — unsurprising given that he was speaking to a party audience. He singled out Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos as the government figure most responsible for the current state of affairs. Returning to the stark dilemma he has long championed, Tsipras declared that “either we succeed, or the most corrupt government in memory continues to rule” — adding that this was an objective reality, not mere rhetoric.
The former prime minister reflected on the trajectory of his party, describing what ELAS has achieved since its founding as nothing short of “a small miracle.” He emphasized that these achievements were far from guaranteed, even for those who had hoped for them. Within just a few days of the party’s launch, he said, hope had returned to places where indifference had previously taken hold — and the entire political establishment, friends and foes alike, had been thrown off balance. “Everyone wants to beat us, even by just one vote,” he remarked pointedly, in what was widely read as a thinly veiled jab at PASOK.
Tsipras framed the creation of a genuine left-wing alternative to the right as an absolute necessity — one with a realistic prospect of competing for and winning power. This would be a political force, he argued, capable of looking New Democracy squarely in the eye and fighting on equal terms. He cited the party’s legacy of struggle, its governing experience, and its programmatic positions as the tools needed to offer society and the economy a fundamentally different path forward.
“We didn’t come here to fill a few seats in parliament — we came to make political change a reality,” he stressed, pointing to polling that suggests more than 70% of citizens are actively seeking that change. He explained that the government will soon be forced to bear the full political cost of its own policies, particularly as winter approaches and households across the country face soaring fuel, electricity, and energy bills. He also reminded the audience that New Democracy has not been in power for four months or even four years, but for seven full years — placing the responsibility for society’s lack of protection against the cost-of-living crisis squarely at the ruling party’s door.
Central to his vision was the transformation of Greece’s economic model and the recovery of lost ground in education, healthcare, employment, wages, and pensions. He also called for increased investment and the generation of new wealth — with the explicit goal of distributing it more fairly across society.
It is worth noting that Roza Vrettou was seated in the front row at the meeting, marking what appears to be her official induction into ELAS.
