Former premier Alexis Tsipras has unveiled his Greek Left Alliance (ELAS) party’s economic program in Thessaloniki, calling for a fundamental change in Greece’s economic model and accusing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government of squandering “the greatest development opportunity” since Greece’s entry into the European Union.
Speaking ahead of Mitsotakis’ address at the Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday, Tsipras said that, in addition to “geopolitical uncertainty,” Greece also faced its own “structural weaknesses” that required an immediate response.
“The country is aging, the working-age population is shrinking, and productivity remains low,” he told supporters in the Grand Pietra Hall of the Porto Palace hotel on Wednesday, in an 85-minute speech that was ambitious in its promises, but relatively light on detail about their cost.
He said the experience of most Greeks showed that “life is harder than it was in 2019,” when Mitsotakis took power. He accused the government of failing to tackle corruption and overseeing a wiretapping scandal that, he said, would have brought down the prime minister in any other developed country.
ELAS would establish a National Reconstruction Plan aimed at achieving convergence with the EU and reducing economic disparities within Greece.
