Alexis Tsipras presented a sweeping economic proposal in Thessaloniki, promising tax cuts for wage earners and a ten-year restructuring plan for Greece.
Speaking at a press conference during the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair, the Greek Left Alliance leader unveiled a policy platform focused on wealth redistribution, market regulation, and curbs on corporate cartels.
Tsipras launched a wide-ranging attack on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accusing the administration of mismanaging inflation, healthcare, and agriculture while failing to hold financial institutions accountable.
Alexis Tsipras served as prime minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019 and previously led the Left-wing Syriza party before establishing the Greek Left Alliance, known locally as EL.AS. The Thessaloniki International Fair is an annual trade and political forum held in Greece's second-largest city, where party leaders traditionally present their annual economic programs.
Economic Plan and Tax Cuts
Outlining the economic program of EL.AS., Tsipras stated that his overarching goal is to transform the country's productive model over a ten-year horizon. He summarised his philosophy by stating that Greece must produce more, distribute wealth more fairly, and achieve a better standard of living.
Tsipras rejected the financial costing of his platform put forward by the governing New Democracy party, describing their assessment as a surrealist painting. He maintained that his economic plan was designed around an available fiscal space of 7.5 billion euros.
To combat rising living costs, Tsipras proposed reducing value-added tax to 6 percent on basic goods, setting up a price observatory across the entire supply chain, and imposing price caps in instances of market overcharging.
The EL.AS. platform includes a 30 percent cut in electricity prices, complete elimination of medicine co-payments for insured citizens, and targeted tax relief for salary earners and families with children. The plan also pledges 50,000 affordable housing units and an increase in the monthly minimum wage to 1,000 euros by 2027.
Bank Taxation and Market Cartels
Tsipras targeted commercial banking institutions, demanding that they contribute tax revenue to public funds. He argued that banks must pay taxes like any other enterprise, noting that they were previously recapitalised using public funds from Greek taxpayers.
Under the EL.AS. plan, dividend distributions to bank shareholders would be halted whenever institutions do not pay taxes to the state. Tsipras also called for accelerating the resolution of pending deferred tax liabilities currently held by financial institutions.
Greek commercial lenders underwent multiple state-supported recapitalisations during the decade-long European debt crisis. Deferred tax credits were introduced during financial bailouts to allow banks to count potential future tax write-offs toward their required regulatory capital reserves.
Turning to broader price pressures, Tsipras asserted that high inflation cannot be blamed entirely on external international factors. He stated that Greece suffers from severe domestic market distortions, leaving workers with Bulgarian and Romanian wage levels alongside Swiss living costs.
Tsipras identified banking as the nation's primary market cartel and energy as the second major cartel. He added that similar cartel arrangements exist across food retail and construction, calling for decisive political intervention to restore competition.
Healthcare Reforms and Education
Addressing the state of public healthcare, Tsipras highlighted chronic staff shortages, difficult working conditions for medical personnel, and rising out-of-pocket costs for patients in the National Health System.
Tsipras directed a personal criticism at Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, stating that even through the minister's glasses, one cannot view the healthcare situation clearly. He argued that the healthcare crisis cannot be resolved through public relations events.
The EL.AS. leader advocated higher salaries and moral recognition for healthcare workers, alongside guaranteed minimum hospital waiting times and reformed surgical scheduling lists. He called for a substantive structural overhaul of the healthcare sector alongside the total removal of prescription drug charges for insured patients.
Greece's National Health System, known locally as ESY, was established in 1983 to provide universal healthcare, but it has experienced severe budget constraints and staffing shortages following years of economic crisis and spending cuts.
On education policy, Tsipras emphasized stronger support for teachers and changes to university admissions. He proposed abolishing the Minimum Admission Base, introducing a transitional entry phase for high-demand university departments, and establishing a two-year technical education program housed within university campuses.
Tsipras also proposed a monthly stipend of 500 euros for ten months of the year for university students who are forced to study away from their primary family home.
The Minimum Admission Base was introduced by the conservative government to set minimum entrance exam grade thresholds for university courses, aimed at raising academic standards but criticized by opponents for limiting higher education access.
Agricultural Sector and Infrastructure
Tsipras described primary agricultural production as a critical national issue, warning that agricultural output is contracting while the farming population is steadily aging.
He criticized the government's handling of livestock sector problems and its management of OPEKEPE, the state body responsible for distributing agricultural subsidies. His proposals for agriculture include a livestock vaccination program, increased funding for the agricultural insurance agency ELGA, targeted support for young farmers, the creation of a land bank, and the decentralisation of ministry services.
OPEKEPE administers billions of euros in European Union Common Agricultural Policy subsidies to Greek farmers, while ELGA provides state-backed insurance coverage against crop damage and livestock disease outbreaks.
On water infrastructure, Tsipras acknowledged the need for network investments while expressing concern over private involvement in public utilities. He stated that public anxiety regarding water management is fully justified, promising that a controlling majority stake in the main water utility, EYDAP, would remain under state ownership.
EYDAP is Greece's largest water supply and sewerage enterprise, serving the greater Athens metropolitan area, with controlling shares historically retained by the Greek state.
Foreign Policy and Defense
Tsipras criticized the government's foreign policy approach, advocating a multi-dimensional diplomatic strategy for Greece. On bilateral relations with Turkey, he stated that he would seek dispute resolution strictly within the framework of international law.
He declared that he would proceed with expanding Greece's territorial sea boundaries to 12 nautical miles in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, sovereign coastal states hold the right to declare territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles, a position Greece maintains as part of its legal rights despite ongoing maritime disputes with neighboring Turkey.
Regarding the Middle East, Tsipras stated that he would re-examine Greece's diplomatic policy toward Israel for as long as Israeli military operations continue in Gaza and the West Bank. He also voiced explicit support for the official diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state.
Election Strategy and Clashes with Mitsotakis
Discussing political scenarios following future general elections, Tsipras asserted that holding a second election would not represent a disaster for the country.
He stated that his primary condition for coalition talks is that EL.AS. receives the first exploratory mandate from the Greek electorate. If EL.AS. secures the first mandate, Tsipras promised to exhaust every option to form a government, noting that while PASOK and EL.AS. are political competitors, they are not enemies.
Tsipras added that if EL.AS. comes first in the polls, it will reach out to potential partners, but if there is no constructive response, the party will proceed to repeat elections.
PASOK is Greece's traditional center-left political party, which has historically competed with left-wing forces for progressivism and governance in parliament.
Tsipras repeatedly attacked Prime Minister Mitsotakis over economic policy and the state wiretapping scandal. He stated that Mitsotakis should have resigned over intelligence surveillance revelations, calling the wiretapping affair a stain on Greek democracy.
Responding to government accusations regarding his economic costing and claims of deception, Tsipras stated that Mitsotakis is the last person entitled to accuse political rivals of fraud. Defending his previous prime ministership between 2015 and 2019, Tsipras stated that he is not asking citizens for a second chance for himself, but for the country, adding that the final answer will be delivered at the ballot box.
