Main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras’ nationally televised interview began as scheduled at 15:00 local time (13.00 GMT).
Tsipras noted in the beginning of the press conference that, come Monday, there will be no more memorandums, nor a troika representing the country’s lenders.
The leftist leader urged the Greek people to offer SYRIZA a clear mandate in the upcoming elections. Specifically, he said the country must have a majority government, in order to avoid the ordeal of searching coalitions.
Reiterating his party’s positions regarding the abolition of ENFIA property tax and the setting of a tax threshold of 12,000 euros, Tsipras underlined that one of SYRIZA’s key commitments is to reduce the tax burden on the middle class.
With regard to the troika of the country’s international creditors, which is made up of the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission (EC), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Tsipras referred to an extra-institutional body, which is not recognized by any European treaty.
Moreover, he added that he refuses to engage in conversation with “second class troika clerks” and stressed that the Greek people are about to win back their dignity.
“Our vision for Greece will involve everyone who lives in this country and has rights,” he continued, expressing a view that human rights are often being overlooked in the name of the crisis and the Memorandums.
Tsipras also said that he finds it unthinkable that a European country is being governed through e-mails, as he claimed. “This ends on Monday” he said.
The main opposition leader stated that SYRIZA wants a “historic victory for the people,” and expressed certainty that after the announcements made by ECB President Mario Draghi on the new economy boosting program of the Central Bank, there will be time for negotiation and that a solution will be found by the end of summer.
He also stated that a SYRIZA government would confront the status quo that led the country to its current, desperate situation, including those people who made crucial decisions for Greece, those who made the banks go bankrupt “and are still on their boards”.
With regard to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ pre-election campaign, Mr. Tsipras stated that the scaremongering strategy is over and called on the Greek people to vote for Greece and for SYRIZA.
