Main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) leader Alexis Tsipras called for national unity and a new dream for Greece when giving his main campaign speech at Omonia Square in Athens prior to Sunday’s elections. He said that, in the case that his party was successful, it would not accept a coalition with those who served memorandums.
He rejected socialist PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos’ willingness to work with SYRIZA in the case of a coalition government. “We don’t want representatives of the views of (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel with us in the cockpit,” he said.
For this reason, he appealed to voters to give him a “clean, crystal-clear, unadulterated and indisputable mandate” to govern so that there can be “an end to the national humiliation as of Monday.”
“Sunday will not bring a victory just for SYRIZA but a historic triumph for all the Greek people,” he said.
He insisted that Greek debt is not viable and returned to his suggestion that a conference be modeled according to the 1953 meeting that took place in London where powers agreed to slash West German debts by half after World War Two.
Mr. Tsipras also outlined his party’s vision for social justice, social welfare, equitable taxation and collaboration with European countries, especially those from southern Europe. This intent was reverberated by a show of support through the presence of Spanish Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias and French Communist Party National Secretary Pierre Laurent at the speech.
“We have a plan, and we pledge to reject (fiscal) supervision, no matter where it comes from,” said the party leader. “Let us put an end to memorandums and let us negotiate toughly by keeping the interest of the Greek people foremost in our minds. We have a plan and we commit to join the struggles of the people of southern Europe and those of the whole European Union,” he said. “We have a plan and we pledge to guaranteed bank deposits for all citizens, dignified pensions and guaranteed agricultural subsidies, a state of justice and the stability and confidence of every Greek citizen.”
Furthermore, Mr. Tsipras pledged to protect those plundered by the memorandum – estimated at 99% of the Greek population – and to clamp down on the 1% that systematically evades taxes and acts outside the law.
He criticized the conservative New Democracy (ND) Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of “scaremongering” and said that his only concern had been to “holding on to power” while he “abused his office, acting as a traveling salesman of fear.” Mr. Tsipras was critical of the fact that Mr. Samaras had insistently rejected an open, public debate with the opposition, choosing instead to “hide in darkness, soliloquies and film editing.”
He concluded by inviting the elderly to cast their ballots for SYRIZA as a show of support for their children and for the 200,000 young scientists that had been forced to leave the country to find work.
