Greek government sources escalated a row with the Greek Left Coalition (ELAS) on Friday, accusing former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of having "an innate tendency to deceive citizens" over the economic program he unveiled at the Thessaloniki International Fair.
The dispute centers on the cost of the measures Tsipras announced. Government sources said the announcements he made from the podium do not match the costing his party later published.
The sources said it took Tsipras's party many hours to produce a 440-word response, when it could have simply written a few lines admitting: "We said an... exaggeration, to pass the time." They added that ELAS had given no answer on the discrepancy between what Tsipras said in his speech and what appeared in the written text his party circulated.
Government sources press their attack
"The only certain thing is that some things will never change, among them Mr Tsipras's innate tendency to do politics by trying to deceive citizens," the government sources said.
Earlier, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis had issued a statement targeting Tsipras's references to a "patriotic contribution," a pledge of 50,000 homes, pay rises for doctors, nurses and teachers, and support for students. Marinakis argued that what was said from the podium differed from what was set out in the detailed specification of the measures.
Marinakis focused in particular on the gap he said existed between Tsipras's spoken commitments and the figures contained in the party's "Fiscal Program 2027-2030," accusing him of presenting measures whose financial impact differs from what the program actually provides for.
The Thessaloniki International Fair is an annual trade event that Greek political leaders traditionally use as the stage to unveil economic policy plans, making the costing of such announcements a recurring point of political contention.
ELAS defends its program
Responding to Marinakis, ELAS said that "numbers matter, but priorities matter even more." The party said its proposals would not be implemented immediately but over a four-year horizon, and that its permanent interventions would accumulate over time rather than disappearing every December.
ELAS said its program does not accept cheap labor, low productivity and constant pressure on wages as the norm. It said it wants to change that model by giving greater power to labor, increasing its share of the income produced and distributing the benefits of growth more fairly.
The party said its position on the welfare state is equally clear. It said it does not accept a country where public health, education, care and social protection are allowed to deteriorate while more and more needs are shifted onto the family's own budget, adding that this is not the only path but a political choice.
ELAS puts questions to the government
ELAS called on the government to state its position on a series of specific policies:
- whether it is for or against cutting VAT to 6% on basic food and hygiene products
- whether it is for or against free public transport in Athens and Thessaloniki for permanent residents
- whether it is for or against scrapping the advance tax payment for individual businesses
- whether it is for or against eliminating pensioners' co-payments for medicines
- whether it is for or against raising the pay of teachers and nursing staff
- whether it is for or against a 500-euro scholarship for every student studying at a regional university away from their permanent residence
Neither side has offered a further response since the exchange of statements.
