Tsipras told the Political Committee that no citizen would expect ELAS to sit in government with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and said the party had never governed with ND. He cited the 2015 to 2019 government he led as its record.
Tsipras compared 2019 and current prices, citing feta rising from 7 to 14 euros and petrol from 1.50 to 2.20 euros. He put the rent of a 100 square metre flat in Pangrati at 1,200 euros, up from 700.
Tsipras said PASOK's attacks reflected hesitation over coalition with ND, citing leader Nikos Androulakis. He urged that the rivalry not become a civil war in the progressive camp.
Tsipras said the government had not disavowed the former US ambassador's remark, made before the energy minister, that Washington could topple an elected government. He demanded explanations about her removal.
Alexis Tsipras, president of the Elliniki Aristeri Symparataxi (ELAS), opened the joint session of the party's Political Committee, its sector heads and their deputies, and its Organisational Office on 16 October 2026. His speech covered most of the day's political issues. He began with a recent visit to Crete, where he said the state was absent and that citizens needed protection and security. He then turned to the government's economic record and argued that the cost of living had become the central issue for voters.
He closed by urging his party to show that a progressive alternative could be put into practice at the next elections.
“The narrative of a third four-year term does not work.”
Tsipras described rising prices as an invisible memorandum that inflates figures at the petrol station, in the supermarket and in everyday living costs. To support the claim, he tabled a comparison of 2019 prices with current ones for basic goods, rents and fuel. Citing his own time as prime minister, he said feta cost 7 euros then and costs 14 euros now, while petrol rose from 1.50 to 2.20 euros. He gave heating oil as 1.10 euros then and 2 euros now without the subsidy, and said that price is above the 1.40 euro per litre limit ELAS set on the basis of its own study. He also cited a 100 square metre flat in Pangrati whose rent rose from 700 to 1,200 euros and whose electricity rose from 60 to 120 euros a month.
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He further cited rises of more than 100% for olive oil, more than 75% for veal, close to 60% for bread and more than 50% for eggs since 2019. Tsipras asked how much wages and pensions had risen over the same period and accused the government of leaving cartels unchecked. He summed up the imbalance in a line the party is likely to repeat.
“We have French prices but Bulgarian wages.”
Tsipras rejected any prospect of governing with New Democracy. He said no citizen would believe he could sit on the government benches alongside Kyriakos Mitsotakis, or alongside several senior ND figures, including current and former ministers. He stated that ELAS had never cooperated in government with ND. He recalled the 2015 to 2019 government, which he led, and listed its reforms as citizenship for children of migrants born in Greece, a gender identity law and the settlement of the Macedonia name dispute.
“We were born to be the opponent and the alternative pole against New Democracy.”
On the 25% benchmark that Mitsotakis had set, Tsipras said it revealed the limits of the government's momentum. He argued that otherwise early elections would have been called last September, as had reportedly been planned. He said ELAS, founded 4.5 months earlier, had upset many people's plans.
Tsipras linked the sharp exchanges from PASOK to a split over coalition with ND. He quoted PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis as having ruled out cooperation with ND, citing a recent party congress decision, while also saying the prime minister would be the leader of the first party. Tsipras said he would not answer personal labels, whatever he heard, and would not allow the dispute to become a civil war in the progressive camp. On Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former US ambassador, he said Americans send each country the ambassador that suits it. He held the government responsible for not disavowing her remark, made in front of the energy minister, that the US could topple an elected government whenever it wished, and he called for explanations about her removal.
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Speaking to ELAS's Political Committee on 16 October, Alexis Tsipras ruled out governing with New Democracy and urged that the row with PASOK not turn into a civil war within the progressive camp.
AI text based on reports by Η Ναυτεμπορική, Ειδήσεις, ΣΚΑΪ and other publishers. Published .