Main opposition Coalition of the Left (SYRIZA) party leader Alexis Tsipras said he wants to present an “applicable, realistic, alternative and primarily a cost-effective program” in his presentation at the 79th TIF at Thessaloniki. The opposition leaders’ close co-workers stated that the program isn’t just comprised of budgetary figures but also outlines the source of money to fund the opposition’s proposals.

The party has already committed itself to withdrawing the controversial single property tax (ENFIA) but it must also present its own proposal for real estate tax as well as the tax-free threshold. The party must back its promises of pension restoration with a presentation as to where it will find the funds to do so. The party must present a cohesive plan of its employment policy and how new job placements will be funded. As for the lifting of the minimum wage to 751 euros, the party is obliged to describe exactly how it plans to make the transition from current minimum salaries. Furthermore, collective bargaining agreements, the elimination of anti-labor laws and other issues also need to be addressed.

CNBC Interview

A few days ago, Mr. Tsipras gave an interview to Italy’s TV station CNBC on the sidelines of the forum in Como where he spoke about the “clipping” of the Greek debt. He said it was necessary to strange strategy and stop austerity.

Some of Tsipras’ comments:

“We have already lost a very big part of our GDP. We lost jobs. Unemployment is very high, especially for young people, and this is not the future of Europe. The basic principles of Europe was solidarity democracy and social cohesion and now we have different principles and need to come back to our foundation principles.”

“If you destroy all the productive base, if you cut pensions and wages and salaries then you will have a very big primary surplus but this is not the solution. At the same time, after six consecutive years of recession in Greece we have already lost 1/4 25% of our GDP. Our official employment is 29% and especially for young people it is 60% and this is unacceptable for a European country that’s why we believe that it is necessary to take braod decsions in a European level it is necessary to reconstruct our public debt because after four consecutive years in the program in the memorandum is 176% of GDP, before the memorandum was 126%.”