PASOK, Greece's main center-left opposition party, accused former prime minister Alexis Tsipras of behaving as though he had just arrived in the country and emerged from what it called political parthenogenesis, saying voters had already judged him twice with the same verdict: a failed prime minister and a failed leader of the official opposition.
The criticism, issued in a statement, responded to a press conference Tsipras held the previous day as president of the Greek Left Coalition, the political formation he now leads.
Tsipras's political history
Tsipras served as Greek prime minister from 2015 to 2019 at the head of the left-wing Syriza party, before losing power to Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the conservative New Democracy party in the 2019 general election. He resigned as Syriza leader in 2023 after the party suffered another defeat to New Democracy, and has since founded the Greek Left Coalition. Mitsotakis has led Greece since 2019 and won a second term in 2023.
PASOK is one of Greece's oldest parties. Founded in 1974 as the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, it has long been the main rival to Tsipras's camp for the country's center-left and left-wing vote.
Dispute over the reasons for the new coalition
PASOK said Tsipras had told the press conference that his new coalition was founded to fill a vacuum left by what he described as three lost years and the emergence of a one-party dominant system. PASOK rejected that account, saying the real reason Mitsotakis's government had endured was Tsipras's own crushing defeat in the 2019 election.
Doubts over future alliances
PASOK also responded to Tsipras's remarks on future political cooperation, saying they showed once again how consistent and trustworthy he is. According to PASOK, Tsipras had, until only a few months ago and before his party's support began to slide, rejected any cooperation even after an election, saying he did not regard PASOK as a neighbouring political space, and had waged a one-front campaign against the wider democratic camp.
Now that he understands his own supporters are not enough, PASOK said, Tsipras appears repentant.
The party pointed to his close associate, Mr Siakantaris, and to what it described as an overlap of positions with New Democracy on issues including the management of private debt, pensions, his tolerance of investment funds, foreign policy and ties to major business interests, saying these had exposed his real aim.
