Main Opposition Coalition of the Left (SYRIZA) leader Alexis Tsipras addressed Parliament during the debate on the 2015 budget. He said that a vote for the Greek President is the equivalent of extending the life of the current government and the continuation of the policies of the memorandum, that he termed one of the most extreme financial programs.

Mr. Tsipras spoke of the likelihood of a third recession. He said that the debt was not viable via a policy of belt-tightening. He said that the current government policies had seen the debt explode from 124% to current levels of 180%. The plan of reducing the debt by 2020 had not been met. “Tell the people what went wrong so that debt was escalated,” he said.

Mr. Tsipras wondered how a deputy, who votes for the budget on Sunday night, can then say “Yes” to the election of a Greek President. He said that if the coalition government fails to gather the votes needed for the 2015 budget, the government would also fail to secure votes needed for the election of the Greek President hence it should immediately hold elections.