First and third parties in elections may be able to form a gov't, says Tsipras in ANT1 interview

SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras said he is requesting the Greek people's strongest possible mandate for a long-term, stable, four-year government, in his interview to ANT1 TV on Thursday evening.

Speaking to journalist Nikos Chatzinikolaou about scenarios for a potential coalition government, the main opposition party leader noted that "there is every possibility that the first and the third [parties] will be able to form a government" after the outcome of the May 21 national elections.

Referring to his party's governance policy program and its potential burden on the state budget, Tsipras said that the cost of New Democracy's program has fluctuated between 25 and 85 billion euros, but Syriza's program costs approximately 5.5 billion on an annual basis.

In 2022, he added, an additional 4.5 billion euros went into the state coffers because Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis "decided to keep VAT consistently high (...), giving subsidies to companies while the middle class lives on [food and petrol] vouchers."

Greece has the highest energy prices in Europe, Tsipras noted, while energy companies' surplus profits reached 3.6 billion, the oil refineries' surplus profits reached 2.5 billion, and the 15 largest companies had a 20-year profit record.

The majority's mandate that Syriza is asking voters for, he pointed out, is required to implement what he believes is "most people's desire for a political change."